“Food grade stainless steel.”
It appears on almost every steel container, bottle and lunchbox on the market. It sounds like a certification. It sounds like a floor — a minimum standard that somebody, somewhere, is enforcing.
It is worth understanding what it does and does not mean, because the phrase covers materials that are genuinely different from one another.
The grades you will actually encounter
Stainless steel is not one material. It is a family of alloys, distinguished mostly by how much chromium and nickel they contain — and chromium is what makes steel resist corrosion.
| Grade | Roughly | Corrosion resistance |
|---|---|---|
| 201 | ~16% chromium, ~4% nickel (manganese substituted for nickel) | Lowest of the four |
| 202 | ~17% chromium, ~5% nickel | Low |
| 304 (18/8) | ~18% chromium, ~8% nickel | The kitchen standard |
| 316 | 304 + molybdenum | Highest — built for marine and medical use |
201 and 202 exist because nickel is expensive. Manganese is cheaper, and swapping some in produces a steel that looks identical, feels identical, and costs meaningfully less to make.
It is also less resistant to corrosion — which matters most in exactly the conditions a food container lives in: salt, acid, moisture, dishwashers, and years.
All four get called “food grade”
And here is the thing that surprised us when we started looking: brands you would expect to be at the top of this table are not.
- ECOlunchbox — one of the most respected plastic-free brands in the category — states in their own FAQ: “All other ECOlunchbox stainless steel bentos are made in India with… stainless steel 201.”
- Onyx, on their own product page: “made from #202 food grade Stainless Steel.”
We want to be fair to both of them: they told you. It is on their own websites, in their own words, and they did not have to say it. That is more than most brands in this category manage, and it deserves credit rather than a pile-on.
The point is not that those companies are dishonest. The point is that “food grade” did not tell you the difference — and only the number did.
The regulatory reality — and a claim we won’t make
You might reasonably assume metal food-contact materials are tightly regulated in the EU. Here is the honest position:
They are not harmonised. Plastics have a dedicated EU regulation. Metals and alloys are one of the non-harmonised material groups — there is no EU-wide regulation specifically for stainless steel in food contact, only the Council of Europe’s EDQM Technical Guide, which is guidance rather than binding law, plus national rules that vary.
So we are not going to tell you that steel is “more regulated” or “more tested” than plastic. It isn’t, and a company built on not overclaiming does not get to overclaim here.
What we will claim is something different, and smaller, and true:
Simplicity, not superior oversight.
A plastic container is a formulation — a polymer plus stabilisers, plasticisers, colourants, processing aids, and the by-products of all of them. A 304 container is an alloy of a handful of named elements. There is less to know, and less that can change without anyone telling you.
How to check what you are buying
Three questions. They take about ten seconds each on any brand’s website.
- Does the page state a number? 304, 316, 201, 202. If it only says “food grade” or “high-quality stainless steel,” that is a decision the brand made about what to tell you.
- Is it the same grade across the whole range? Some brands use 304 on the flagship and something cheaper further down the catalogue.
- What is the lid? This is the one almost nobody checks, and it is usually the answer. A 304 body with a polypropylene lid is a plastic-lidded container with a steel bottom. We wrote about that here.
What we use
304, everywhere. Body, lid, divider, bottle cap. The same grade in every product we sell, at every price point. It does not change by size, by colour, or by what you paid.
Not 201. Not 202. Not “food grade stainless steel” as a phrase doing quiet work in place of a number.
And not 316 either, because 316 is genuinely better for seawater and surgical instruments and no better for the inside of your fridge — it would cost you more for a property you will never use. That is a separate article.
Two materials. Both named. 304 stainless steel, and one food-grade silicone seal. That is the entire list.
We print the number because “food grade” is what you say when you would rather not.
See what actually touches your food →
Food should be stored without doubt.
Brand quotations taken from each company’s own published FAQ or product page, current as of July 2026.