Food grade daily necessities silicone rubber meets regulatory upgrades, with the implementation of GB 4806.16-2025 reshaping industry standards

In March 2026, the new version of the National Food Safety Standard for Silicone Rubber Materials and Products in Contact with Food (GB 4806.16-2025) was officially implemented, marking a new stage of strong compliance, high safety, and refined development in China's daily necessities silicone rubber industry. On the basis of the original standard, more than 20 key indicators have been added, including raw material purity, migration limit, production process control, and testing methods. Especially for silicone rubber products that come into direct contact with food such as baby pacifiers, food spoons, baking molds, kitchen scrapers, and sealing gaskets, stricter safety requirements have been put forward, completely ending the industry pain points of "unclear raw material compliance and no unified testing standards".

The upgrading of standards directly promotes the innovation of the entire industrial chain. On the upstream raw material side, high-purity platinum catalysts, food grade silicone rubber, and compliant inhibitors (such as acetylene cyclohexanol) have become essential, with purity requirements raised to above 99.7%, and residual levels of heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) strictly limited to the microgram level; At the midstream manufacturing end, enterprises have comprehensively upgraded the cleanliness of their production workshops, implemented dust-free and automated production throughout the entire process, eliminated the mixing of non compliant additives and recycled materials, and established a dual system for raw material traceability and finished product testing. Each batch of products must pass 12 tests, including migration volume, temperature resistance, and aging resistance, before leaving the factory; On the downstream application side, silicone rubber products in the fields of mother and baby, kitchen, catering, etc. have undergone a "reshuffle style" upgrade, with low-priced and low-quality products that do not meet the new standards accelerating their exit from the market. Products with compliance certification and high safety have gained higher premiums and market share.

Market data shows that in the first quarter of 2026, the domestic market size of food grade daily necessities silicone rubber increased by 18.7% year-on-year, with a growth rate of 25.3% for mother and baby products (pacifiers, dental implants, and complementary food utensils), and a growth rate of 16.9% for kitchen baking products (molds, scrapers, and fresh-keeping covers). From the perspective of exports, compliance upgrades have significantly enhanced the international competitiveness of China's silicone rubber daily necessities, with exports to markets such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan increasing by 22% year-on-year. The return rate due to compliance issues has decreased from 8.2% in 2025 to 1.5% in the first quarter of 2026. Industry analysis indicates that in the next three years, compliance will become the core competitive barrier in the daily necessities silicone rubber industry. Enterprises need to focus on the entire process of raw material procurement, production control, testing and certification, while promoting the research and development of bio based and biodegradable food grade silicone rubber. On the basis of ensuring safety, green development will be achieved, further consolidating China's leading position in the global food grade silicone rubber daily necessities field.