Food grade Stainless Steel is actually a metal that is used for water storage and food preparation purposes. The major reason why companies use food grade Stainless Steel is that it is comparatively a lot more safer than other types of Stainless Steel when it comes to food preparation and water storage.
However, it is true that Stainless Steel cannot be die casted, which means that die casters will have to figure out another way to mold the food grade Stainless Steel metals. Several professional die casting companies suggest that Metal Injection Molding (MIM) is the best casting process for high volume, complex Stainless Steel metals.
When searching for a food-safe metal, most companies usually look for a strong and corrosion resistant alloy. Even though zinc, copper, and aluminum can be used for food safe metal components, most die casters try not to use them. This is because each of these materials have to be coated after casting and it may potentially leach into foods. On the other hand, Stainless Steel does not have to be plated or coated after casting, which in turn, significantly reduces the cost of operations and eliminates the need for secondary operations.
Die casters will also put in extra efforts to make sure that the flash and residual metal does not break off and get mixed with water or food. Most of the MIM tools are efficiently designed to have significantly less or minimum flashing, as most of the metals used in MIM applications are usually a lot more stronger when compared to die casting alloys.
An important aspect of food grade Stainless Steel is certainly its sanitary finish. Failing to properly sanitize and reliably clean the component can make the surface of the finished product susceptible to the growth of harmful bacteria, which will not be compatible with the regulations of FDA. So, make sure to hire professional die casters do the job rather than hiring amateurs.
Most of the food processing equipment is made from 316 or 304 austenitic Stainless Steel. Most professional die casting companies provide a wide variety of Stainless Steel for Metal Injection Molding process, but the most widely used component is MIM-316L. Studies prove that MIM-316L has incredibly high strength properties and they are also corrosion resistant, which makes it a perfect choice for MIM process.