Totes & parts · P-05
Food-grade
IBC totes.
Short answer
- Prior-contents affidavit from the original filler, on file
- Hot-water wash and food-safe sanitiser rinse only
- Plastic or composite base as standard, never bare wood
- Rebottled with new food resin when used supply is thin
Price food-grade units
The two conditions
Resin compliance and documented history. Both, or it is not food grade.
This is the single most misrepresented term in the used-container trade, so it is worth being precise about.
1. The resin
The bottle must be blow-moulded from high-density polyethylene that complies with FDA 21 CFR 177.1520, the regulation covering olefin polymers in food-contact applications. Virtually all virgin HDPE IBC bottles do. Bottles containing post-consumer regrind generally do not, which is why food-grade rebottling always uses virgin resin.
2. The history
Compliance of the material is necessary but not sufficient. The container must have held nothing but food-contact product, for its entire life, with that history documented. We collect a prior-contents affidavit from the original filler and keep it against the serial number. If we cannot obtain one, the tote is sold as reconditioned industrial grade — at a lower price, with the honest description.
Why permeation makes this permanent
HDPE is semi-permeable. Over weeks of contact, organic molecules migrate into the polymer wall, not just onto its surface. A hot caustic wash removes what is on the surface and leaves what is in the wall, which then slowly migrates back out into your next product. That is the mechanism, and it is why grade does not travel upward.
Accepted prior contents
- Corn and cane syrups
- Fruit juice concentrate
- Edible oils (soy, canola, palm)
- Brines and vinegars
- Liquid sweeteners and molasses
- Food-grade glycerine
- Brewing liquor and wort
- Potable water
- Liquid egg and dairy (hot-wash verified)
Permanently excluded
- Anything with a chemical prior fill
- Fragrance and essential-oil totes
- Solvent, resin or adhesive service
- Agricultural chemicals of any class
- Unknown or undocumented history
- Bottles containing post-consumer regrind
Our food line
Five steps, physically separated from the rest of the yard
The food line has its own bay, its own lances, its own drain and its own staff rotation. Nothing that has touched caustic or solvent goes near it.
- 01
Affidavit before intake
A prior-contents affidavit is collected from the original filler before the tote is accepted. No affidavit, no food line — the unit is graded industrial instead.
- 02
Hot-water wash, no chemistry
Pressurised hot water at 82 °C. No caustic, no solvent, no detergent that is not food-safe. Chemistry is what contaminates a food-grade line permanently.
- 03
Food-safe sanitiser rinse
Sanitiser rinse, then potable rinse, then dried under positive filtered air so nothing settles inside while the lid is off.
- 04
Interior inspection
Camera inspection for scuffing, haze and odour. Odour is disqualifying even when the paperwork is perfect — the nose catches permeation the paperwork missed.
- 05
Plastic base and new wetted parts
Plastic or composite base fitted, new food-grade EPDM or silicone gasket, new valve. Sealed and labelled with the affidavit reference.
Specification
What a food-grade order looks like
| Attribute | Standard on food orders | Available on request |
|---|---|---|
| Bottle resin | Virgin HDPE, FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 | New bottle (rebottled) with resin certificate |
| Base | Injection-moulded HDPE | Composite steel frame with plastic deck |
| Gasket | Food-grade EPDM | Platinum-cure silicone for hot fill |
| Lid | 6 in solid screw cap | Vented lid for hot fill and cooling |
| Valve | New DN50 butterfly, PP body | DN80 for viscous product, full-port ball valve |
| Documentation | Affidavit + wash certificate | Third-party swab test results |
| Sizes | 275 and 330 gallon | 120 gallon half-height |
For potable water storage specifically, order a solid lid rather than vented, sanitise before first use, and keep the tote out of direct sunlight — UV drives algae growth through translucent HDPE far faster than most people expect. Our rainwater harvesting guide covers shading and first-flush diversion in detail.
Questions
Food-grade questions
What makes an IBC tote food grade?
Two things, and both are required. First, the bottle must be moulded from HDPE conforming to FDA 21 CFR 177.1520. Second, the container must have a documented history of food-contact use only. A compliant bottle that once held a chemical is not food grade, and no wash process changes that.
Can I store drinking water in a food grade IBC tote?
Yes, with a sanitising step first. Food grade means the materials and history are acceptable; it does not mean the container is sterile on arrival. Sanitise with an unscented chlorine solution, rinse with potable water, and fit a solid rather than vented lid for storage.
Why are food grade totes more expensive?
Scarcity of documented supply, not extra processing. Every food-grade unit needs a prior-contents affidavit from the original filler, a segregated wash line with no caustic or solvent exposure, and a plastic or composite base. The paperwork is harder to get than the container.
Do food grade totes need plastic pallets?
Most food and beverage plants mandate it, and we supply plastic or composite bases by default on food orders. Wood absorbs product, harbours bacteria and needs ISPM-15 treatment for export; steel is not washable to sanitary standards.
Can you make a chemical tote food grade?
No. HDPE permeates — product migrates into the polymer wall and washing only addresses the surface. Any supplier offering to upgrade a chemical tote to food grade is selling you a liability, not a container.
Before first use
Sanitising a food-grade tote, step by step
Food grade means the materials and the history are acceptable. It does not mean the container is sterile on arrival, and a unit that has been dry for a season is not clean. This is the procedure.
- 01
Confirm the grade before you start
Check the affidavit reference on the paperwork and smell the interior. If there is any odour at all, stop — that is permeation and no sanitising procedure addresses it. Food grade is a precondition for this procedure, not an outcome of it.
- 02
Rinse and drain completely
Potable water, full drain through the valve. You are removing dust and anything that settled during storage, not residue — there should not be any.
- 03
Mix the sanitising solution
Unscented household chlorine bleach at roughly one cup per 50 gallons of eventual fill volume, made up in about 10% of the container volume. Scented bleach contains fragrance compounds that permeate HDPE permanently — this is the single most common way people ruin a food-grade unit.
- 04
Wet every internal surface
Close the lid and roll or rock the tote so the solution contacts the walls, the base radius and the underside of the lid. Thirty minutes of contact. A static fill sanitises the bottom and nothing else.
- 05
Drain and rinse twice
Two full potable rinses until there is no chlorine smell. Drain completely between them, and run the last rinse through the valve so the valve body and outlet are rinsed too.
- 06
Fit the right lid and shade it
Solid lid rather than vented for storage and potable water. Keep the unit out of direct sunlight — UV through translucent HDPE drives algae growth faster than almost anyone expects.
Short answer
- Unscented bleach only — fragrance permeates permanently
- Agitate; a static fill sanitises the bottom and nothing else
- Rinse until there is no chlorine smell, then once more
- Repeat annually for stored emergency water
Audit evidence
The document pack that travels with a food-grade order
In a sanitary plant the paperwork is as much the product as the plastic. This is what arrives with the load and what each document proves.
| Document | What it establishes | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|
| Prior-contents affidavit reference | Food-contact-only history, with a named filler and signatory | Food-safety auditor |
| Resin certificate (rebottled units) | Bottle moulded from FDA 21 CFR 177.1520 virgin resin | QA, customer audits |
| Wash certificate | Hot water only, 82 °C, no caustic, no solvent, segregated line | Internal incoming inspection |
| Final rinse verification | Conductivity against mains water | Technical QA |
| 48-hour odour hold result | No permeation detectable after the gradient reverses | Rarely asked for, always decisive |
| Leakproofness test record | 3 psi pass, dated, per serial | Shipping and logistics |
| Base type confirmation | Plastic or composite, never bare wood | Sanitary floor compliance |
| Gasket compound | Food-grade EPDM or platinum-cure silicone | Process engineering |
We retain all of these against the serial number for the life of the container plus two years, so a document requested during an audit two years after delivery can still be produced. Ask and we will send the pack as a single PDF per load.
From the Yard Journal
Longer pieces from the people who run the wash line, the test bay and the trading desk.
8 May 2025 · 4 min
Reading prior-contents affidavits like an auditor
Most affidavits are honest and useless. The difference between a document that protects you and one that does not comes down to four specific fields.
Nina Caldwell · Trading desk
Read27 February 2024 · 4 min
Why food-grade supply collapses every August
It is not demand. Documented food-contact stock depends on affidavits, and affidavits depend on somebody at a beverage plant having time to sign one.
Nina Caldwell · Trading desk
Read28 August 2025 · 4 min
Rain barrels, food grade, and the conversation we have every spring
Somebody wants one tote for a vegetable garden. The honest answer takes four questions and occasionally costs us the sale.
Marcus Vreeland · Founder
Read
Next move
Tell us what is going in it and we will tell you if food grade is required.
Plenty of jobs people assume need food grade genuinely do not — and a few that people assume are fine absolutely do. We would rather have that conversation before the load ships.