Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

++++ The manufacture still claims they are food grade in their title, even though they are not FDA approved. ++++ See comments below, in comments section. Purchased for food storage. They have a rubber seal in the lid. Nice and heavy pails. Exactly what I expected. The seller provided a letter from the manufacturer certifying their pails are food grade, when used at room temperatures or below. UPDATE: A lot of confusion about #2 HDPE for food use. Found this info. Typical 5 gallon `food grade' buckets are made of #2 HDPE, and are opaque, not allowing light to penetrate, while often advertised or labeled as `food grade'. The typical `blue' water storage containers or barrels are also made of high density polyethylene (#2 HDPE). The thing is, if you will be storing food directly in the bucket or if you will be using the container for drinking water, be sure to verify the material is safe before you purchase. Be safe. *note To be safe, the buckets that you choose to use for food storage should be `food grade' (unless you are inserting sealed Mylar bags). All food grade buckets are made of HDPE #2 (high density polyethylene) but not all HDPE #2 buckets are food grade. Buckets that are not food grade will out-gas and leach into the container, and whatever is in the container. HDPE #2 buckets that are not food grade will have been manufactured with a non-food-grade "mold release agent". A mold release agent is what is used to help get the newly shaped plastic off of the hard mold that it was shaped from during the manufacturing process. Without the release agent, the new plastic shape will likely stick to the mold. Some mold release agents enable much faster production than others, but may be toxic to your health if later used with food stuffs. If the bucket is marked specifically as food grade or USDA approved (or FDA or NSF approved), then it is food grade. Otherwise contact the supplier or manufacturer to confirm.