In an industrial facility, having uncoated concrete floors may be an acceptable choice. But in food processing plants or places that serve food, sanitation and optimal hygienic conditions are essential. Concrete coatings on the floors go a long way.

First, the floors of food processing industries are usually open to all kinds of food byproducts. Such ingredients may cause discoloring and even damage to the floors. These byproducts may include sugar solutions, hot oils, fats, blood and natural food acids. Additionally, these impurities can penetrate uncoated concrete flooring. That may result in a wild growth of bacteria that, in the long run, will affect the processed food’s purity.

Therefore, floor coatings chosen for application to the floors of food industries must be sturdy enough to form a protective barrier. They must also prevent pollutants from infiltrating into the concrete while ensuring a hygienic surface.

How to Choose a Floor Coating for Food Industries

There are some considerations you must have in mind while choosing the coatings for any facility in the food industry. Let’s have a look at them:

Standards and Regulations

Usually, a critical factor in floor coating selection is the necessity to adhere to the governmental requirements of the food industry. Various organizations at the state and federal levels regularly inspect food processing facilities to ensure the foods being produced for human consumption are free of impurities.

Traffic

The type and volume of traffic is another significant factor in choosing a floor coating for the food industry. Workers’ liability and safety issues require food processing plant managers to make skid-resistant floors available. They do so by using textured flooring systems.

Cleaning

Food facilities’ floors must be cleaned regularly, even several times daily. That is how they can keep the food processing operation up to government standards. Therefore, food industry floor coatings must be sturdy enough to handle robust cleaning procedures, as those can mean exposure to steam, boiling water, and aggressive cleaning chemicals.

Odors

No food processing plant can neglect this important factor. Avoiding the transference of unwelcome odors to food products is crucial. Some foreign substances can induce odors that make the final food products unacceptable.

Our water-based coatings are the least likely to produce odors that might be absorbed by the food. Therefore, they are generally a worthwhile choice for industrial flooring applications in the food processing industry.

Top Choices for Food Industries

Processing plants of food products require hygienic surfaces that are used for various purposes. Those include cold storage rooms, dry storage areas, places for slaughtering and canning and mixing areas.

The DC Generals floor coating systems meet an entire range of service conditions. We provide a wide variety of flooring systems that factories and businesses can use for different applications.

You’ll find the following types of industrial and business flooring coatings available in numerous designs at DC Generals:

Urethanes

Urethane coatings are quite common in the food industry. Such coatings generally have a slurry form. They tend to be a tad more expensive upfront. However, their lifespan is longer than that of products in other categories.

Moreover, these coatings can make noteworthy improvements on vinyl ester and epoxy flooring systems often found in poultry and meat plants. Another great benefit offered by these coating systems is the decorative options available. They allow customers to choose which shade from the various colors of quartz they want to add to the slurry.

Epoxies

High-solid epoxies offer excellent protection against alkalis and acids. Mastics, odorless epoxy and fast-drying epoxy primer-sealers are among the formulations that are presently available. These coatings provide a wide range of significant benefits that include brilliant adhesion and an outstanding ability to endure abrasive cleaning procedures and chemicals.

Moreover, they come with instant curing characteristics for reducing downtime of the area under treatment. You will also find anti-slip additives in them, and they show high compatibility with textured floors. In addition to that, high-solid formulations are low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Polyurea

Food industry environments need flexible, tough and impact-resistant floors. Our polyurea coating systems are the best choice in that regard. They are UL-approved and satisfy USDA standards too. Therefore, they are quite common for coating the floors in the food industry.

Due to the elastic nature of polyurea coatings, they are excellent for substrates like concrete, which tends to crack over time. Moreover, these coatings have the ability to bridge gaps up to 1/8th inch. Because of this flexibility, they are less affected by temperature extremes.

Methyl Methacrylate

Penn Tek’s methyl methacrylate floor coatings are perfect for food facility floors. They are well-suited to relatively low temperatures. Specifically, plant owners use methyl methacrylate floor coatings in cold-storage areas like walk-in freezers. It is resistant to penetrating odors. Therefore, they reduce the risk of imparting an awkward odor to processed foodstuffs. Methyl methacrylate floors cure quickly too.

To learn more about our business in Frederick, MD and commercial flooring, visit us here.