Hi JWR,
About the recent post on HDPE food grade buckets: Please note: Plastic food grade buckets are oxygen and gas permeable and will not store food for a long time by themselves. That is what a mylar liner is for, to greatly slow this process down (it will not stop it entirely).
Here is some data for oxygen permeability & plastics:
Material…………………………….ml o2/(day*mil*sq. meter*atm)
PE (polyethylene)…………………..6000-15000
HDPE…………………………………1500-3000
Saran………………………………….10-350
Mylar…………………………………..50-100
Foil laminate………………………….0
Plastic laminate………………………10-400
Regards, – Malcolm
JWR,
Just an add-on for Don in Ohio’s post: I live fairly close to a major soda bottler/distributor. Their flavoring comes in white food grade plastic 50 gallon drums and they readily sell them to the locals around here. You can get them for $8 to $10 . They are quite sticky inside due to the high sugar content in soda and need a good rinsing .
On another note, I own a trucking company and one thing that a lot of people don’t know is that some of ingredients in some things are hazardous to humans believe it or not, until the manufacturing process is completed. For example…The most popular sports drink in the US, the concentrated flavoring is considered HAZMAT when it’s being transported from the supplier to the bottler and is only safe after the bottling, dilution, and sterilizing process. So please read the labels even if you consider it “food grade”. Remember, food grade doesn’t necessarily mean edible in the current form. And I would also recommend reading the MSDS sheets that came with the original container. Just ask. Most people will be happy to supply them. – Gary in Kentucky