Interview: New NSF-certified Pilot® Oils for the food industry

With a specialised portfolio of low-viscosity base oils, Haltermann Carless offers high-quality products that can be tailored to the individual needs of different industrial machinery and equipment and their lubricants. Suppliers and manufacturers in the food and beverage industry now have access to a range of NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils. Find out what important added value these Pilot^® Oils offer in an interview with Dr André Rosehr, Technical Service & Development Manager at Haltermann Carless.  

Your Pilot^® Oils, a broad portfolio of low-viscosity base oils, have been used in industry for many years for a wide range of applications. What role have these products played so far in the food processing industry and adjacent sectors?

Our Pilot^® Oils can be found in very different products and formulations. As low-viscosity process oils, their main component is their special technical properties such as solubility, high temperature resistance, customised viscosities and defined boiling behaviour.

Special regulations apply to the food industry and products with indirect food contact. For example, our Pilot^® Oils are used as process oils in aluminium foil production and must therefore be safe for indirect or unintentional food contact. We now have another quality feature for these applications for a range of low-viscosity base oils: Following a successful certification process, five of our Pilot^® Oils have been awarded NSF H1 certification.

What do NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils of the category H1 mean in concrete terms?

Our hydrogenated Pilot^® Oils were already safe for indirect food contact prior to NSF certification. The NSF certification now emphasises the high standard of our Pilot^® Oils and is a seal of quality for customers and suppliers in the food processing sector. Our NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils belong to category H1. This means they can be used as lubricants or (process) oils that potentially come into contact with food. With the NSF H1 registered Pilot^® oils, we can offer a broad portfolio of oils with viscosities between 2 and 9 cSt (KV40).

In food and beverage production, but also in many other areas such as commercial kitchens, bakeries, cosmetics and pharmaceutical production, the demand for product safety is high. However, machines and systems cannot do without lubricants, demoulding aids, corrosion protection or process oils. It is therefore all the more important that these products and all ingredients are suitable for use with food and are safe to use. 

The NSF approval process is based on the requirements of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and EU Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004.

In which areas are your NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils used?

Our low-viscosity Pilot^® Oils lubricate, rinse and clean without additional additives. For example, they can be used as flushing and cleaning oils with a lubricating effect, as so-called flush oils, or as process oils in the food industry and food processing industry. In the production of aluminium foil, for example, NSF-certified oils are applied to the aluminium and evaporated during further processing. As packaging, aluminium foil can come into contact with food and thus potentially also with trace residues of our Pilot^® Oils. This is why the safety of the products used is so important. Other typical products in the food packaging industry are cans and containers for food, baked goods or animal feed.

You have recently commissioned a modern hydrogenation unit that allows you to manufacture innovative products and products with high purity. Are your NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils the result of your investment?

Yes, that is correct. Thanks to our hydrogenation unit, we can offer our customers a portfolio of low-viscosity base oils that are virtually aromatic-free and fulfil high quality requirements. The development of our Pilot^® H series is the result and part of our continuous product optimisation.  

By the way, the hydrogenation unit is located at our → production site in Speyer. Logistically well located in Europe and connected to all transport networks. We offer our NSF-certified Pilot^® Oils in drums or in bulk on request.

Thank you very much for the interview!

More information on our Pilot^® Oils can be found in the following blog articles:

• Pilot^® Oils from Haltermann Carless score with very low aromatic content
  
• Low-viscosity base oils - as versatile as their applications
• Industrial lubrication: High-quality lubricants and their base oils

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