I don’t know of any spray paints that are officially certified FDA food contact safe, though there is one that meets USDA requirements for incidental food contact and there are two spray paints that meet Toy Safe EN-71 standards (which is an ingestion test for painted toys).
I will also list some alternatives and sealers you can use over spray paint to form a barrier.
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Regulations we will consider:
1. FDA Cleared Ingredients
Section 175.300 lists cleared ingredient materials for resinous and polymeric coatings.
Paints used in the home, for tabletops, high chairs, and other consumer goods are not officially tested by this regulation.
This section is for a coating that is “intended for repeated food-contact use and is applied to any suitable substrate as a continuous film or enamel that serves as a functional barrier between the food and the substrate.”
According to a rep for the FDA, this is usually used for coatings inside tin cans.
However, the company Fakolith says they test paints and coatings against this standard.
And although this standard doesn’t apply directly to household paints, we can use the list of approved ingredients in 175:300 to see if a product would likely be safe for food contact.
2. GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe)
GRAS substances as determined by the FDA. Many of these substances are listed in 21 CFR Parts 182, 184, and 186, or are published on FDA’s website.
Sometimes these substances are only limited to the specific application for which the determination was made.
The list is not exhaustive (there can be GRAS substances not on these lists). (source).
3. Toy Safe Standard
EN 71: is a European standard, but there are a number of certified brands that sell their products in North America as well, so this turned out to be a useful regulation for the paints in this article.
This tests for the leaching of toxic elements including aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barium, boron, cadmium, Chromium (III), Chromium (VI), cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, strontium, tin, organic tin, and zinc. (source).
This standard simulates the leaching of metals in the stomach as if the paint were ingested by a child. (source).
Food-Safe Spray Paint Brands
1. Rust-Oleum V
Rust-Oleum High-Performance V Rust Preventive Enamel Spray Paint meets USDA requirements for incidental food contact.
USDA FSIS regulatory sanitation performance standards for food establishment facilities.
This is a little different than the FDA Title 21 which looks at ingredients in the paint that come in direct contact with food.
The USDA looks at clean-ability ensuring “the floors, walls and ceilings… (are) smooth and easily cleanable” so they won’t collect bacteria, and that ceiling coatings are intact. USDA-compliant systems must hold up to the intended use in a specific process area. (source).
2. Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Craft Enamel
The spray version of Painter’s Touch Craft Enamel is Certified Toy Safe to EN71-3: .
This is a solvent-based acrylic polymer spray paint suitable for use on most indoor and outdoor surfaces such as wood, metal, ceramic, and more.
Copper and Gold colors are not certified Toy Safe.
Available in the UK.
3. Pintyplus Evolution ACRYLIC WATER-BASED spray paint
Pintyplus Evolution is certified Toy Safe EN-71 (Europe) and Toy Safety ASTM F963 – 17 (USA).
This is a water-based acrylic spray paint that is marketed as an environmentally friendly general-purpose spray paint.
For more Food grade High speed Coating Lineinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
It’s low odor during spraying compared to conventional spray paints and once dry it has no odor they say.
You can use it indoors and outdoors on wood, stone, some plastics, MDF, veneers, glass, clay, ceramics, paper, natural fibers, rubber, cork, textiles, and most metals.
There is a Prop 65 warning for two compounds that are trade secrets.
Where to Buy (US): Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot
4. Other; Krylon
Krylon said:
“We don’t manufacture a product that is FDA approved [to be food-safe]. An FDA approval is important in terms of whether a product film is safe for incidental ingestion. We do not perform animal testing and cannot test for ingestion. Therefore, we offer nothing that is guaranteed to be food safe if it is ingested or encounters someone’s mouth. Having said that, many of our customers apply our products on countertops. Just make sure to set or prepare food on a cutting board/trivet/food-safe surface.”
This includes Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating.
Note that metallic spray paints are particularly not food-safe. I don’t think any metallic paint can meet Toy Safe EN-71 Standard (and therefore food-safe standards) because of the metals needed to make the colors. Lines of paints that are food-safe (or Toy Safe) exclude their metallic colors. If a metallic tray or cake stand is used for the display of foods then you can use a physical barrier like a food-grade silicon sheet.
Spray-Applied Water-Based Paints
AFM Safecoat Metal Primer + Exterior paint or ECOS Paints could be considered defacto food-safe based on the ingredients, though they are not FDA-approved.
The owner of AFM says in an that their paints are defacto food contact safe based on ingredients listed in FDA 175.300, and ECOS Paints are certified Toy Safe EN-71 which makes them safe for incidental ingestion.
They can be spray applied but are not spray paints.
Sealants to Use Over Spray paint
You might consider sealing the painted surface with a food-safe coating.
1. Epoxy: A food-safe thin two-part epoxy resin, the same ones used to seal wooden bowls and tables which will come in contact with food. (Epoxy does contain BPA or other bisphenols, however).
MAX CLR Epoxy Resin is Food Safe FDA Compliant epoxy coating approved for direct food contact. It can be used on bowls, mugs, tables, etc. This is also low toxicity and low odor.
ZDSpoxy is another one that is FDA-approved.
2. Water-Based Coatings: A food-safe water-based sealer is not as thick of a barrier as epoxy, but can form an extra layer of protection between a spray-painted object and food.
A clear water-based polyurethane or acrylic sealer can be used over a painted wood or other painted surface to form an extra layer of durability and protection.
Just check to see if the two are compatible, since most spray paints are oil-based, and a water-based coating will not stick to that.
Most brands of low and zero-VOC polyurethane and acrylic are likely food-safe, though most are not tested by the FDA’s standards.
They might be considered defacto food-safe based on the raw ingredients in section 175:300 or based on Toy Safe Regulations.
- Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Lacquer (which is certified Toy Safe EN-71)
- AFM Acriglaze (defacto food safe according to the company, based on ingredients)
- AFM EXT (defacto food safe according to the company, based on ingredients)
- Fakolith is a European company that makes food-grade varnishes that are tested and certified for direct, indirect, and occasional contact with food, beverages, and drinking water, according to European regulation EU 10/, and/or American regulation FDA 21 CFR 175.300. They make various products including clear sealants, acrylic enamel paints, and a food-grade epoxy paint. (But it’s not clear where to buy them, and they did not respond to my ).
3. Shellac
Shellac does help to act as a protectant, limiting leaching from the paint and providing a food-safe top coat.
While many websites and companies state that shellac is considered GRAS (generally regarded as safe) by the FDA, that does not appear to be accurate.
This document by the FDA states that shellac is not GRAS, it’s also not listed in the GRAS database here.
It is however listed as an approved raw ingredient in resinous and polymeric coatings that come into contact with food (FDA CFR title 21 Volume 3 Sec. 175.300 Resinous and Polymeric Coatings) and it is used to coat foods, even organic foods can be coated with approved shellacs.
Therefore, shellac can be very safe for food contact surfaces. It sticks to just about every surface including over oil-based paints (or over any kind of paint).
Zinsser brand shellac products are not FDA-approved for food contact.
Instead, what you should do is to buy the food-grade shellac and mix it with a food-grade alcohol like Everclear.
Corinne Segura is an InterNACHI-certified Healthy Homes Inspector with certifications in Building Biology, Healthier Materials and Sustainable Buildings, and more. She has 10 years of experience helping others create healthy homes. You can book a consult here.
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