Food Grade Compressed Air- A Treatment Guide
Oct 2025
With food hygiene concerns in food manufacturing hitting the news and consumers hyper vigilant to product recalls it’s time to de mystify the ISO standards for compressed air used in food manufacturing. Its more cost effective to be safe than sorry!
Atmospheric air is used in compressed air generation. It contains pollution that remains in a compressed air system the system unless it’s removed.
Although food manufacturing plants will likely have a dryer that produces air with a dew point of -40°C, Moisture, Solid Particles and Oil contaminants can occur after the drying process meaning for applications where compressed air is used directly in the manufacturing process it’s imperative to install point of use dryers which adhere to the ISO standards for food grade air.
• Most modern Pneumatic Components are greased for life, this grease can wash out and
• Point of use lubrication, although once equipment has been lubricated retrospectively, removal may cause components to cease up
• Rubber Seals in equipment such as cylinders and valves may swell or degrade over time causing debris in the system
• Rust can occur in pipes and travel around the compressed air supply
• Point of use Filter Auto Drains are mechanical and can get stuck, manual drains may not be emptied due to human error thus sending moisture into the system
• Atmospheric air contaminates can enter an unsealed air system installing silencers in all valve exhausts can help
• Add point of use filter element changes to the planned maintenance schedule as blocked filter elements are unfit for purpose and may also cause pressure drops in the system placing an uneccisary load on the compressor which increases energy costs
There are no rules to define what air grade is suitable for each application and the type of ISO 12500-1:2007 filter that must be selected will depend on the application and classification of ISO 8573-1:2010 air required to be fit for purpose
ISO 8573-1:2010 sets a scale defined by the levels of each type of contaminating particle that is present the compressed air It uses three numbers in order for its classification
1st) Solid Particles
2nd) Humidity, and liquid water
3rd) Oil Class 1 , 1 , 1 is the cleanest and purest air
Point of use Filters that produce Food grade air use fine filter elements so we advise to install these application by application as over filtration can use more energy than required due to pressure drops in the system.
For more info contact libby.peacock@rubix.com