Cortec Corporation announces its S-8 corrosion inhibitor additive for food-can processing has been awarded the USDA Certified Biobased Product label.

S-8 contains 71% USDA-certified biobased content and is formulated with FDA-compliant ingredients.

It is designed for corrosion protection of sealed food cans during washing and sterilization. While most of a can’s life may be spent sitting on a shelf in a dry environment, newly packed and sealed cans pass through hot steam for sterilization, sometimes followed by a cold-water bath, before ever reaching the warehouse, store, or pantry shelf. Exposure of the metal can to steam, water, and air at this stage of processing is a perfect recipe for corrosion, which could lead to serious repercussions for the producer, seller, and consumer if not properly addressed. S-8 can be added at a very low dose to the sterilization and cooling water to safeguard against the risk of flash corrosion from rinsing and sterilization.

Three phases of inhibitor action—in the water, in the air, and at the air-water interface—give S-8 unique protective abilities for the steam sterilization environment, inhibiting corrosion even when the cans are not fully submerged in S-8 treated water. The additive leaves behind a persistent thin protective layer that will not cause sticky deposits on the surface of the can. Benchtop laboratory tests show outstanding film persistency and stability in a wide temperature range. This “green” filming corrosion inhibitor contains salts of fatty amino acids and amino alcohols as the active ingredients and does not hydrolyze during application.