Creating food-safe silicone beads

Question

I'm looking to create molds for food-safe silicone beads (like the ones babies use for teething). From another question here, I guess I can't use silicone to make silicone beads. Is there another food-safe product to create a mold?

I've seen clay and acrylic water kits suggested, but I am concerned with the food safety.

(Regarding the linked question: I'm concerned that if I use the suggested materials for casting (clay or water acrylic resin) the silicone beads would no longer be properly safe. Now I'm wondering if I should just clean the beads well once cast. I'm nervous because these are meant to go in the mouths of babes, so I was hoping someone had done this before successfully.)

Answer 1

You can use food grade silicon for casting as well as for making molds. What you need to look for is chocolate casting silicon. They are pretty expensive and there are plenty of manufacturers, but you need to follow the directions very carefully.

In Europe I have had good experience with a product called schokomold

If you do cast silicon in a silicon mold, you can use a cooking spray as a release.

A word of caution though, the silicon is robust but it will break down over time through stretching and (chewing). You can make it more robust by adding more of the binding component, however your working time will also be reduced. Experimentation is called for.