Safety

How safe are the products we use? We think about safety when it comes to medication and food, but what about the flatware that we put in our mouths on a daily basis? Most people probably don’t think about the safety of the flatware they’re using, especially when buying products that have familiar brand names, even if that product’s manufacturing has been outsourced to factories overseas. Because of the lack of regulations, products manufactured overseas could have anything in them – or on them.

For example, a factory owner from another country toured our facility as he was considering a purchase of some excess equipment. He observed our wash process and asked what we used to clean our parts. He explained that in his factory, trichloroethylene, or TCE, is used as a cleaner in the final phase. Since then, we’ve learned that almost every flatware factory in Asia uses TCE in their process. You may be wondering what the issue is – TCE is simply a cleaning agent, right? Unfortunately, TCE is a highly toxic carcinogen and is almost never used in cleaning metal parts in the United States. It has never been used at Sherrill Manufacturing, and never will be. We wash our flatware the same way you would – with soap and water.

Perhaps even more than what’s on your flatware, it is important to know what’s in your flatware. One of the most frequent questions we receive from customers is, “Where does your stainless steel come from?” The reason is that people are very concerned about contaminants in the metal used in the manufacture of products they buy, particularly products they’re going to put into their mouths. At Sherrill Manufacturing, we’re proud to say that all the stainless steel used in the manufacture of our flatware comes from steel mills in the United States, which means that the stainless steel is melted and processed into coils in the United States.

How is stainless steel made? It is almost always manufactured by melting scrap metal, mainly similar grade stainless steel scrap. The alloying metals that make the grade of stainless steel, such as nickel and chromium, are added to the molten melt and carefully measured with sophisticated equipment to make sure the percentage is correct. Steel used at Sherrill Manufacturing is eight to 10 percent nickel and 16 to 18 percent chromium. At the same time, alloying metals are measured to ensure that the grade meets all specifications measurements of other elements there are no trace elements that aren’t a part of the recipe. Unfortunately, scrap collection, scrap processing, melting practices and testing in some foreign markets is not as rigorous, and that means that lead, mercury and non-metallic toxic elements are sometimes present in the steel.

At Sherrill Manufacturing, we purchase all of our stainless steel from reputable domestic suppliers. A copy of the material test report listing the results of the metallurgical testing, and certifying that the material meets all standards accompanies our steel. You’ll know that the flatware you use from Sherrill Manufacturing never has anything on it – or in it – that you wouldn’t want in your mouth.