Plastics play a part in every phase of food production and preparation so they couldnt possibly be harmful right? You might be surprised. Recent health controversies have spawned new discussions about the safety of plastics in the food industry, especially linked to the potential health risks from Bisphenol A (BPA), a common chemical used in food packaging. Environmental scientists (Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health) warn that non-food grade plastics may be transmitting dangerous toxins into the foods they come into contact, with risk of doing long-term damage to our health. If you`ve noticed a strange chemical taste when drinking from a cheap water bottle, or even from croissants, this may be down to poorer plastic grades contaminating our foods. After a food blogger got more than 50,000 signatures in a petition drive, high street chain Subway recently announced that it is removing a chemical, also used in yoga mats and shoe soles, from the bread of it its popular sandwiches.

So let`s focus in on another area - Paint Guns, widely misused for years to spray oil, chocolate, egg wash etc. on our foods. These Paint Guns are produced mainly in Asia using cheap materials that are rarely even close to being suitable for the kitchen environment. In defense of kitchens using Paint Guns, in the past there probably wasn`t always a choice of alternative sprayer, and information about plastic toxins was just as scarce. However, todays ethics and risk avoidance practices have encouraged many thousands of chefs, bakers and food industry professionals to choose a professional Food Sprayer that has been certified as being produced with food grade materials, such as those using the KREBS, Schneider, Matfer, Unilever, Retigo or Mallet brands to name a few. These are high quality Swiss made professional products that are designed be taken apart for thorough cleaning so that you can work quickly, hygienically and reliably.

[Moderator Note: The rest of this post was a commercial message for one of the brands of spray guns mentioned. Those paragraphs have been removed.]