Plastics coatings and a high-temperature polymer now comply with the requirements of regulation 21 CFR 175.300 for resinous and polymeric coatings of the FDA, USA.

As a direct response to customer requirements, Victrex plc has announced that key grades of its recently introduced VICOTE Coatings and its high-temperature product VICTREX PEEK-HT polymer now comply with the compositional requirements of regulation 21 CFR 175.300 for resinous and polymeric coatings of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States of America. Based on VICTREX PEEK polymer, a linear, aromatic, semi-crystalline material that is widely regarded as one of the highest performing thermoplastics in the world, both VICOTE Coatings and VICTREX PEEK-HT grades are now FDA-compliant and can be used in food processing and related industrial applications, to make articles or components that will come into repeated contact with food during processing. VICOTE Coatings are a new range of high performance coatings that deliver durability and long life to end use applications such as cookware and food processing parts.

This is due to their excellent high temperature performance, excellent wear and scratch resistance along with a host of other design and manufacturing benefits.

VICOTE Coatings are already being implemented in a number of food processing and cookware applications, in Europe, Asia and the United States.

The latest VICOTE Coating grades to meet the stringent FDA compliance standards, VICOTE 708 and 709, are available in 10 and 50 micron particle sizes, and address the specific requirements of demanding high-temperature environments.

'We launched VICOTE Coatings earlier this year to fill the performance gap found in many existing coating technologies,' said Andrew Storm, manager of Victrex's Global Ventures Business.

'It is a great choice for engineers looking to improve the overall wear and life of their applications.

When you compare it to the traditional Fluoropolymer coatings, customers have the potential to extend the life of their application by between 50 and 200%.' One of Korea's leading rice cooker manufacturers, Cuckoo, is already using VICTREX PEEK-based VICOTE Coatings to deliver improved abrasion and corrosion protection in its range of premium rice cookers.

In Europe and the US, Taconic, a specialist in engineered products for the food industry, has selected VICOTE Coatings for use in its food processing belt products for aggressive food cooking environments where excellent wear, release and mechanical properties, and excellent temperature performance are required.

VICTREX PEEK-HT addresses the needs of higher temperature applications and has been the material of choice in demanding industrial applications for a number of years.

VICTREX PEEK-HT already complies with EU Food Contact Regulations and is currently used in the oil and gas industry where aggressive stresses and chemicals and high temperatures of greater than 200 deg C and pressures of 138Mpa are prevalent.

VICTREX PEEK-HT has a higher glass transition temperature and melt temperature than VICTREX PEEK, delivering longer-term durability, strength and reliability.

These improved performance benefits at even higher temperatures can be easily translated into opportunities in the food processing market in applications such as appliance parts, equipment bearings, seals, precision cutting blades, and energy-efficient pumps.

'The move to gain FDA food contact compliance for VICTREX PEEK-HT is further evidence of the company's proactive strategy to engage with customers and end-users to develop new applications for the Victrex range of high performance polymers,' said Mark Maddern, global product manager for Victrex.

'Now our customers can be assured that applications based on VICTREX-PEEK HT will not only pass the stringent high-temperature testing prevalent in the food industry, but also has the essential FDA food contact compliance.' Maddern concluded, 'In common with existing VICTREX PEEK grades that are food contact compliant, the new VICOTE and VICTREX PEEK-HT FDA food contact compliant grades will offer a number of advantages over competitive materials.

Providing more cost-efficient design of intricate parts, longer life and increased durability at high temperatures will result in a reduction of process downtime for our customers.'