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SCIENCE BEHIND IT THE SCIENCE BEHIND MAKING PET FOOD SAFE By Jen Kramer and Norm Klapper W e know that the FDA has strict guidelines when it comes to the manufacture of food for human consumption, and it stands to reason that those guidelines are no less rigorous when the food involved is intended for our pets. This meant that in the Mars pet food-processing room, there could be no standing water, no cracks or crevices, and no compromised or porous concrete that could retain contami- nates or bacteria in any proximity to the food-processing equipment. (Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 113, abbreviated as 21 CFR 113, www.fda.gov). Mars is known for their quality pet food. They needed to maintain that high standard and recoat the production room with a coating that would both meet the project's unusual demands and also meet FDA approval. They did so. And it wasn't just the coating that was "green"—the cleaner/degreaser was, too. From Beer To Dog Food As the company Website recounts, BioChem Systems' line of products had an interesting beginning. The company's owners got a request from Bill Coors to find a replacement for the hazardous and lethal vapored 1,1,1 trichloroeth- ane (TCA) that was used for cleaning at the Adolph Coors Packaging Division. Located in Golden, Colorado, the Coors Packaging Division manufactures in excess of 4 billion two-piece aluminum cans per year for use in the packaging of Coors' beers. They used 1,1,1 TCA to clean oils from machinery, floors, and tools. The challenge was to develop a cleaner/degreaser that cleaned as well as, or better than, 1,1,1 TCA and was also biodegradable and safe for workers and the environment. The product could not contain chlorinated solvents, petroleum products, acids, caustics, or other hazardous chemicals. After a year of research, lab testing, and field evaluations, BioChem Systems developed a product that was eventually named Bio T—the cleaner/degreaser used on the Mars pet food- processing floor. The product formulation met all the objective criteria required of an environmentally friendly and worker-safe product. Given a USDA Class C rating, Bio-T has been used for years in meat-packing facili- ties to clean animal fat from large processing areas. The non-toxic, non-corrosive formula is 100% biodegradable and water-soluble. And this gentle but tough degreaser was step one in the two-step green coating process for the pet food-processing room floor. Step Two: Green And Tough Norm Klapper with International Coatings states that "ICO-Guard 51 was chosen for its chemical resistance, ability to be applied in any depth in one application, fast cure time, resistance to thermal expansion, and overall performance record in similar applications." A three-part, flexibilized epoxy, ICO-Guard 51 is a USDA-approved product with zero odor and zero VOCs. The resin-rich, 100% solids mix creates a coating in any thickness that can be applied by hand or power trowel in a single step without harm to the environment. As Klapper knew, ICO-Guard 51 is particularly recom- mended for meat and poultry plants, dairies, citrus, and bottling plants—areas exposed to heavy wear and a broad pH range down to 1 as well as daily exposure to sanitizing wash-downs with water up to 212°F (100°C). ICO-Guard 51 provides an easy-to-clean, seamless surface for institutional and commercial kitchens, and it can even be installed over old quarry tile or brick floors, provided the tile is well bonded. In its "fast cure" and "cold cure" versions, it is well suited for application in coolers and cold rooms without contamination of sensitive food products. Unlike most epoxies, ICO-Guard 51 is formulated to withstand extreme thermal shock, including steam cleaning. As opposed to more britt le, conventional epoxies, with compressive strengths typically exceeding 10,000 psi, or three times that of concrete, ICO-Guard 51 is formulated to have properties closer to that of concrete with a compressive strength of about 5,200 psi. The resin-rich system is much more durable and flexible than other resinous toppings, thus extending the life of the concrete substrate. ICO-Guard 51 has excellent chemical resistance against industrial cleaners, most inorganic acids, (includ- ing up to 80% sulfuric, 85% phosphoric, 30% nitric, concentrated hydrochloric [HCI]), and organic acids (80% lactic), caustics, lubricants and some solvents—an impor- tant consideration given the constant cleaning to which the pet food-processing floor is subjected. And at the end of the day—or in this case—three days, the USDA-approved epoxy took the place of concrete, curing in a fraction of the time, and providing seamless, slip-resistant coverage. Now, as Tom Behunin of Behunin Construction says, "the coatings in the processing room are all USDA-approved, everything is sanitary." CP July 2012 J www.coatingspromag.com 47