I’ll obviously never use leather for any future products. I did have graphite in mind, but it’s still on the drawing board (another project). Right now I think I will have to give up and rely on the food-grade spigots that are available on the market. I would honestly make them myself from scratch but the investment required is astronomical for me right now. Maybe in the future.

I have been trying to get my hands on some pump dispensers from like 100 years ago. I am curious how they used to be made then. Obviously no plastic, but perhaps rubber was most likely used.

I actually wasn’t aware of the natural rubber vulnerability to e-coli… And the spigot will be placed in a highly humid environment. So I guess back to the drawing board.

Thank you for your very comprehensive response. I am currently trying to replace the outer silicone gaskets with cork, with mixed results, which is why I hoped that natural rubber may do the trick. I also did see that the inner O-rings were made of EPDM, so I hoped that those could be replaced with something better for the environment.

Or it’s not really worth it financially, I suppose. I mean, my initial idea was to find an all-metal pump dispenser. There are none and I think they would be both safe and legal?

I suppose like it did before news orgs were a thing. So, like how it was about 200+ years ago?