Stainless Steel Pipe & Tube for Food, Beverage & Dairy

Food and dairy duty is often assumed to be undemanding because the products are not industrial chemicals. In practice the cleaning regime is frequently more aggressive than the product: caustic and acid clean-in-place cycles, repeated daily, at temperature.

What drives material selection here

Product chemistry -- brines, acidic fruit products and dairy salts behave very differently
Clean-in-place chemistry, which is often harsher than the product itself
Surface finish and the absence of crevices or rough welds where bacteria can establish
Resistance to chloride pitting from salt in the product and in sanitisers
Hygienic jointing, drainability and the avoidance of dead legs

Grades commonly specified

Grade selection guidance for this service. Confirm against your own process conditions.
Grade	Why it is specified
304 / 304L	Widely used for general food and beverage contact where the product is not salty or strongly acidic. 304L where welded.
316 / 316L	Where salt, brine, acidic products or chlorinated sanitisers are present -- which covers more dairy and processed-food duty than people expect.

Standards this sector commonly specifies

ASTM A270 (sanitary tube)
ASTM A269
ASTM A554
EN 10204 3.1

These are the specifications buyers in this sector typically call for. Material is supplied against the specification stated on your order — confirm the standard and certificate type at enquiry stage. See mill test certificates and EN 10204 types.

Worth knowing before you specify

The common and expensive mistake here is choosing 304 on the basis of the product and forgetting the sanitiser. Chlorinated cleaning agents are a chloride exposure, and they contact the surface every single cycle. If the CIP regime is chlorinated, assess the grade against the cleaning chemistry, not only the food.

Tell us the duty, not just the grade

The fastest route to a useful quotation is the service conditions. For this application that means:

The product and its salt or acid content
The CIP chemistry and temperature
Required surface finish
Tube OD and wall thickness

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