Stainless steel plays a vital role in the production and processing of food and beverages. For over 70 years stainless steel has been used in the preparation, processing and transport of food products to ensure a high standard of quality. It does not affect the taste of food and drink. Stainless steel has a high resistance to cleaning agents, disinfectants and sterilising agents such as pressurised steam. Chromium and nickel release from stainless steel in contact with food or during its processing, storage and during meal preparation and cooking is, in most cases, negligible. Experiments on pick-up of chromium and nickel from stainless steel utensils have been conducted using acid fruit (14). Experiments using AISI 430Ti/1.4510 and AISI 444/1.4521 (ferritic grades) and AISI 304/1.4301 (austenitic grade) in a boiling acetic acid solution showed that chromium and nickel release is very low. The concentration observed were close to the detection limits i.e. 30 µg/l for chromium and 10 µg/l for nickel.
A recent field investigation (15) of actual operation using meals cooked in glass, ferritic (AISI 436/1.4526) and austenitic (AISI 304/1.4301) stainless steel pans showed that the levels of nickel and chromium fall either within or very close to the range of chromium and nickel reported in the literature. Statistical tests showed that nickel and chromium intake from meals cooked in stainless steel utensils (in austenitic 18.2 % Cr – 8.6 % Ni/304 grade and in ferritic 16.6 % Cr – 1.0 % Mo niobium stabilised/436 grade) was insignificant.