Why LFGB-Grade Silicone?
Designed in Scotland · Made from LFGB-grade silicone
A teether spends hours in a baby's mouth. That is why every Infatot silicone piece is tested to the German food-contact standard that goes further than the "food-grade" label most baby products stop at.
The standard
What LFGB actually means
LFGB is Germany's Food, Consumer Goods and Feed Code. Sections 30 and 31 set the rules for anything that touches food, and Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, the BfR, publishes the detailed recommendations that laboratories test against. For silicone that is BfR Recommendation XV, widely treated as the toughest benchmark in the world for the material.
In the UK and EU there is a general framework law for food-contact materials, but no silicone-specific measure. So when a manufacturer wants to prove its silicone is genuinely clean, LFGB is the test it reaches for.
- Full name
- Lebensmittel-, Bedarfsgegenstände- und Futtermittelgesetzbuch
- Governing body
- Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR), Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
- Silicone rule
- BfR Recommendation XV, applied under LFGB sections 30 and 31
- Why it matters
- The only widely used silicone standard that includes a taste-and-smell test and a cap on volatile residues
LFGB · BfR Recommendation XV
Three tests. One standard.
Before a piece of silicone can be called LFGB-grade it has to pass all three. Most "food-grade" silicone is only ever checked for the third.
Sensory test
Steeped in water and food, then judged by a trained panel. Any transferred smell or taste is a fail.
0taste or smellVolatile content
Heated and weighed to measure what evaporates. Catches under-cured silicone and its residues.
≤0.5%volatile matterMigration limits
Exposed to simulants for saliva, fatty and acidic foods. What leaches out is measured against strict limits.
3food simulantsDots show how many of the three tests each standard requires.
Side by side
LFGB vs "food-grade" vs FDA
"Food-grade" is a marketing phrase, not a test. At best it means the material meets a general food-contact rule. The US FDA standard for silicone, 21 CFR 177.2600, is a real test, but it measures extractables only.
| Check | "Food-grade" label | FDA 177.2600 | LFGB / BfR XV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Independent laboratory test | Not required | Yes | Yes |
| Extractables or migration limits | Varies | Yes | Yes |
| Smell and taste transfer test | No | No | Yes |
| Limit on volatile organic content | No | No | Yes, 0.5% max |
Why it matters
Hours in a mouth, not seconds on a plate
A cup or a spatula touches food for a few seconds. A teething glove is chewed, sucked and dribbled on for most of the day, warmed to body temperature, by someone with no immune experience and no way to say something tastes wrong. The sensory and volatile tests are the ones that catch cheap, under-cured silicone, and they are precisely the two that most standards skip. That is the whole reason we specify LFGB.
Beyond the material. Every finished Infatot toy is tested by an independent third-party laboratory and must pass the UK and EU safety rules for baby products, including the small-parts, strength and choking checks that apply to anything made for children under three.
The range
Made from LFGB-grade silicone
Selected designs add natural wood, and our crinkle sheets and bibs use fabrics rather than silicone. Every product page lists its exact materials in the details tab.
Good to know
Questions parents ask
Short answers to the things we get asked most about silicone safety. Still unsure? Email hello@infatot.com and a member of the team will help.
Is LFGB the same as BPA-free?
No. BPA-free only tells you one chemical is absent. LFGB testing looks at what the whole material gives off, including taste, smell, volatile residues and migration into food simulants.
Is LFGB silicone stricter than FDA silicone?
For silicone, yes. FDA 21 CFR 177.2600 tests extractables. LFGB and BfR XV add a sensory test and a cap on volatile content, so it catches problems the FDA route does not look for.
Does LFGB-grade silicone feel different?
Well-made silicone is soft, matt and completely odourless. If a teether smells of plastic or leaves a taste, that is exactly what the LFGB sensory test is designed to reject.
How should I clean an LFGB silicone teether?
Follow the instructions supplied with your product. Cleaning methods differ between silicone, wood and fabric parts, so use a dishwasher, steriliser or boiling water only where the instructions for that item allow it.
Ready when they are
Soothe sore gums with silicone you can trust
Award-winning teethers, designed in Scotland, made from LFGB-grade silicone and shipped from the UK.
Infatot is a brand of Ockloo Ltd. Retailers and parents who would like to know more about our testing can email hello@infatot.com.