Guest guest Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 There are many grades on chemicals and ingredients. Here are a few: USP which stands for the United States Pharmacopeia; NF - which stands for National Formulary; NSF - National Sanitary Foundation; FCC - Food Chemical Codex; And then there are Kosher Grades awarded to chemicals and ingredients that have been inspected (and processes inspected) by one or more of many affilitated Rabbinical groups. ------------------------ Pretty much all of these designations are suppported and implemented by groups not at all unlike UL / Underwriters Laboratory, which tells you that your extension cord or ladder at home was built safely to hold you up or plug in that electric fan. And they pretty much all have websites you can go to and learn about how they " measure " the standards and award companies these designations and the respective grades. Often, but not always, the designations are awarded based on looking at paperwork and sometimes personal visits by inspectors, revolving around good manufacturing processes. Related- Look at the FDA and the USDA websites. These sites also have information about good manufacturing practices, sanitation in and around food etc... and the FDA site gets in to lots of minutae about health related stuff and regs related to personal care items. Very helpful for the home chemist I think. As far as you rarely seeing information about the grades of chemicals.... DO NOT ASSUME ANYTHING. AND DO NOT BUY ANYTHING that will go on your largest organ, your SKIN, without making darn SURE it is safe for skin. It should be NF, or USP I would think. FCC might be Ok too. When we sell stuff we always know the grade. And we have certifcates of analysis on everytihng too . You don't want to buy a tech grade for the most part. YOu mentioned Glycerin. We only sell 99.7 USP KOSHER . That way we know it is Veggie based and is of the highest purity. There is a LOT of tech grade Glycerin on the market that comes from all the new bio diesel plants Iit is a by product) and it can be cleaned up to look pretty good (usually a yellow to brown color though) ... it will have lots of stuff in it you do NOT want anywhere around your skin though... DON " t BUY TECH GRADE GLYCERIN now-a - days. And also don't buy Tech grade Propylene Glycol now - a days. Similar issues. HOpe that helps. Mark Hughey Ebay store The Chemistry Connection ------ > Anyone have info how grades are given for ingredients? ie food grade, > cosmetic grade, pharmaceutical grade etc? > > I would assume that pharmaceutical grade is the " best " regardless of > whether you ingest it through the mouth or skin. Not sure about food > grade or cosmetic grade though. I would think that food grade would be > higher quality than cosmetic grade. > > I guess the simpler question would be (fictitious); > > If I were to boil some basil in water and put it in a bottle, what > would be the general criteria for getting a particular rating? I know > in the Beef industry, you just have to pay for a higher rating for the > same product ? > > I rarely see grades posted on ingredients I purchase. Should I assume > the glycerin is at least cosmetic grade? Or is Food grade better? Or > does it only depend on the preservatives used? > > > Mark > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 3, 2007 Report Share Posted July 3, 2007 > Anyone have info how grades are given for ingredients? ie food grade, > cosmetic grade, pharmaceutical grade etc? Hi Mark. Interesting question. Pharmaceutical grades would have a USP designation like the NF designation. I'm not sure that there is an actual food grade. I think that is mostly reseller talk. There is a GRAS designation used in food additives that means it is regarded as safe when used at specific amounts. The designation simply means that experts in their field have determined that it is safe to ingest if used as recommended. FDA used to give out this designation. They no longer accept petitions. I think cosmetic grade is mostly used by resellers as well. > > I would assume that pharmaceutical grade is the " best " regardless of > whether you ingest it through the mouth or skin. Yes, very expensive though compared to ingredients without the NF designation. The upside is you can be sure you are getting exactly the same quality every time. > I rarely see grades posted on ingredients I purchase. Should I assume > the glycerin is at least cosmetic grade? Or is Food grade better? Or > does it only depend on the preservatives used? > Glycerin has many uses in food and cosmetics. Based on recent news I would not want to purchase glycerin from China. Many of the ingredients we use are also food products. When the farmer plants a field of soy beans he is not particularly worried about whether they end up in cosmetics or food. There are many different products that can be made from the same field of corn. The oil may be sold to the food industry or the cosmetic industry...there is no difference. The same with corn. It may be sold as is in the husk to have at your next barbecue, or turned into oil for the food or cosmetic industry, or distilled into ethanol to power your car. Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 4, 2007 Report Share Posted July 4, 2007 Do you guys sell emu oil? I didn't see it on your site. Second question I get all the time since we use emu oil in a lot of our products - are animals killed just for the emu oil? Ann: Yes, I sell EMU oil. Just not on the site yet. The EMU is grown for the meat, oil hide and I also sell the feathers for fly fishing and arts and crafts. Simon CRESTON VALLEY MEATS CRESTON, CALIFORNIA 1- PLANT OR 1- CELL www.crestonvalleymeats.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 7, 2007 Report Share Posted July 7, 2007 Thanks for all the replies. We have FDA, USDA,USP, NF, NSF, FCC. NOP (national organic program) as well as kosher certifications. And probably more. Use as directed, generally regarded as safe........ I'm seeing it loosely is broken down this way: 1.Core ingredient - for basic safety. 2.Extraction/creation methods - which extraction methods are acceptable for a particular use or if something is synthetically created. 3.Production facilities. If I try to follow that seed to a product I buy that will end up being 5% of a formulation, I'll go crazy A lot to think about. Thanks Mark > > There are many grades on chemicals and ingredients. Here are a few: USP which stands > for the United States Pharmacopeia; > NF - which stands for National Formulary; > NSF - National Sanitary Foundation; > FCC - Food Chemical Codex; > And then there are Kosher Grades awarded to > chemicals and ingredients that have been inspected (and processes inspected) by > one or more of many affilitated Rabbinical groups. > ------------------------ > Pretty much all of these designations are suppported and implemented by groups > not at all unlike UL / Underwriters Laboratory, which tells you that your extension cord or > ladder at home was built safely to hold you up or plug in that electric fan. And they pretty > much all have websites you can go to and learn about how they " measure " the > standards and award companies these designations and the respective grades. > Often, but not always, the designations are awarded based on looking at paperwork and > sometimes personal visits by inspectors, revolving around good manufacturing processes. > > Related- Look at the FDA and the USDA websites. These sites also have information about > good manufacturing practices, sanitation in and around food etc... and the FDA site gets in > to lots of minutae about health related stuff and regs related to personal care items. Very > helpful for the home chemist I think. > > As far as you rarely seeing information about the grades of chemicals.... DO NOT ASSUME > ANYTHING. AND DO NOT BUY ANYTHING that will go on your largest organ, your SKIN, > without making darn SURE it is safe for skin. It should be NF, or USP I would think. FCC > might be Ok too. When we sell stuff we always know the grade. And we have certifcates > of analysis on everytihng too . You don't want to buy a tech grade for the most part. > > YOu mentioned Glycerin. We only sell 99.7 USP KOSHER . That way we know it is Veggie > based and is of the highest purity. There is a LOT of tech grade Glycerin on the market > that comes from all the new bio diesel plants Iit is a by product) and it can be cleaned up > to look pretty good (usually a yellow to brown color though) ... it will have lots of stuff in it > you do NOT want anywhere around your skin though... DON " t BUY TECH GRADE GLYCERIN > now-a - days. And also don't buy Tech grade Propylene Glycol now - a days. Similar > issues. > > HOpe that helps. > > Mark Hughey > Ebay store > The Chemistry Connection > ------ > > > Anyone have info how grades are given for ingredients? ie food grade, > > cosmetic grade, pharmaceutical grade etc? > > > > I would assume that pharmaceutical grade is the " best " regardless of > > whether you ingest it through the mouth or skin. Not sure about food > > grade or cosmetic grade though. I would think that food grade would be > > higher quality than cosmetic grade. > > > > I guess the simpler question would be (fictitious); > > > > If I were to boil some basil in water and put it in a bottle, what > > would be the general criteria for getting a particular rating? I know > > in the Beef industry, you just have to pay for a higher rating for the > > same product ? > > > > I rarely see grades posted on ingredients I purchase. Should I assume > > the glycerin is at least cosmetic grade? Or is Food grade better? Or > > does it only depend on the preservatives used? > > > > > > Mark > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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