New NSF HTF Guidelines for Food

Heat transfer fluids with and without food-additive approval will now be listed in a new NSF category to make it easier for users to determine which fluids are safe to use in and around food. NSF Inter-national, Ann Arbor, Mich., announced the guidelines for heat transfer fluids or fluids used in cooling and heating systems in food processing facilities.

Under the former program, which was managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Washington, and terminated in 1998, heat transfer fluids required food-additive approval. This requirement ensured the safety of edible product in the event of incidental contact with food.

The NSF Nonfood Compounds Registration Program steering committee, with guidance from USDA, recommended that NSF register heat transfer fluids under a new category, HT. Fluids registered for incidental contact with food will be listed under HT-1. Fluids for which no contact with food is allowed will be listed in HT-2. Ingredients for use in heat transfer fluids will be listed in category codes HTX-1 and HTX-2.

The guidelines can be downloaded at www.nsf.org/usda or ordered by calling NSF at (800) 673-6275.

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Avoiding scale, corrosion and microbiological growth — all of which diminish effective heat transfer — is the focus of any water treatment approach for water-contacted process heating and cooling equipment.