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Ramblings about safety of wood food utensils

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What is food-safe to use to finish bowls and what isn't
.
Danish oil - doesn't it contain petrolium distillates. Once the item cures (dries) the distillates are gone.

What about all of the other products containing petrolium distillates that are applied to wood as sanding fillers, to bring out any sanding scratches.

I know these distillates evaporate but what about the residues left behind
when they evaporate???

Is wax safe on the surfaces in contact with food???

is a waxed lacquer surface food-safe???

The big question (asked by my wife ) --- how sanitary are wood surfaces used for food? --- how does one sanitize a wood bowl finished using only
mineral oil? and not leave a bad/funny tast in it?
 
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I've read a lot of stuff in the forums in the past 2 years. Many end customers get worried about it, yet wouldn't think twice about picking a cookie or potato chip off their finished dining table. Most of the stuff I read nets out to - once the organics evaporate the finish is safe. That's the motto I've been going by.

Some of the discussions have centered on the fact that FDA approved finishes are very expensive to get approved. Hence most manufacturers don't go thru the painful testing and approval process. Many finishes are created from natural occurring oils such as tung and linseed. Nothing harmful there.

Since most finishes are pretty durable, one would have to scratch and eat a lot of finish to actually ingest a lot over the years to make a difference.
 
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I agree. Once all of the volatiles have evaporated, the finish is safe.

My finish of preference is Watco Danish Oil followed, when it is really dry, by the Biehl buffing system and Carnauba wax which, incidently, is edible. The salad bowls we use at home are finished this way. When the inside of the bowls start looking like they need something we wipe on a light coat of mineral, not vegetable oil and wipe it off. Vegetable oil can get rancid but not so with mineral oil. On the outside of the bowls we use a light coat of paste furniture wax to get the shine back. This is what I tell everyone who gets one of my bowls, either as a gift or as a purchase.
 
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Danish oil flour scoop

So, if I use danish oil to finish a flour scoop, will it be ok after a few days or do I need to wait longer? How long does it take for the "evaporation" to be complete with danish oil?
 
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Food Safety

Gary,
I would wait until you can no longer smell the solvent.:)
 
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My own rambling on the subject is this. Each individual is going to have their own personal opinion on the safety of the various finishes for wood utensils, bowls, etc. Regardless of how you try to convince them of the safety, some folks are going to be a little squeamish about either the chemicals in the finish or the ability to wash the wood after using it. But the finish that gets recommended as safe so often that always leaves a question in my mind is mineral oil. It doesn't contain petroleum distillates, it IS petroleum in a highly refined state. But it's used in medicines, diet supplements, beauty products, etc so apparently it must be safe to injest. I just have a hard trying to convince myself that it's the best choice. Like I said, each person will have their own opinion. On the other hand, I grew up eating food cut on a wooden cutting board, used one in my own home for 35 years, have a collection of wooden spoons and spatulas and even now use some wooden 'spurtles', use several wooden salad bowls, and with the exception of the bowls none have had any finish on them. I use walnut oil on the bowls because it makes the wood look nicer. But, I don't recall ever having any problems form using any of them.
 
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I agree with Curt. Everyone has there favorite finish. I think it was in one of the woodturning books which I can't recall right now but it said all finishes today are food safe if let cure for minimum of 72 hrs. The author said do the smell test. If you can't smell the finish it is food safe and ready to use. Some people think Behlens Salad bowl finish or General Finishes Salad bowl finishes are the only food safe finishes. Really they are no different than antique oil or danish oil, etc. They are varnishes. On my utility items I either use Minwax Antique oil or Walnut oil depending on what I want it to look like. Some people like their bowls to shine and others don't care so I use Mike Mahoney's walnut oil. All my plates and bowls we use in the house here are Mike's walnut oil. They have been used now for a couple of years and still holding up fine. Mineral oil never dries so to me it is just a dust collector.
 
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Steve Worcester

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Bob Flexnor, albeit the guru on finishes, says that all finishes are safe after the solvents evaporate. I guess I don't want to eat at Bob's house, but there is probably some truth to it. About the only thing that would disprove this is heavy metals in the finish, cobalt, selenium, lead, but most likely not a problem with clear finishes.

I use Claphams salad bowl wax, which is a bees wax with some solvent to make it easier to spread. *Note that solvent doesn't mean toxic, water is a solvent as well (as an example).
Mineral oil is a popular finish (also a laxative in higher quantities), but no finish works well also. There was a Mahony article recently about finishes on food bowls in the journal.
 

Donna Banfield

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Food Safe Finishes

On my bowls I have used both Woodcraft's Urethane Oil or Bush Oil. Both take at least 2-3 coats to build up the finish, and more than a week in open, circulating air to dry after the last coat. Urethane Oil seems to produce a more shiny finish, but it also will dry out or develop a thick coat over the surface in the container faster than I can use it up.

I have two 10" walnut salad bowls with Urethane Oil finish that I took out of my 'for sale' collection in 2005 and have been using them regularly (2-3 x's per week) as our personal salad bowls. (It was the only way I could get my husband to eat more salads). These have the dressing poured right in. After the meal, they are rinsed out with warm water, with a sponge or dishrag, and then towel dried. They seem to be holding up quite well to the regular use. And I haven't sprouted a third eye (I wish), an 11th finger, or other unexplained apendage. :D

I also hand carve spoons for utilitarian use, and these I finish with Mahoney's Walnut Oil. I also keep a few bottles (re-packaged in 4 oz bottles) with me at shows, for sale if purchasers are interested in renewing that finish.
 
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I don't know why people put finishes on utensils meant for food consumption. It will just wear off and guess where a good portion of it goes?

We have an old wooden spoon I use for stirring sauces. The spoon may be 30-40 years old. It is beginning to chip here and there but we love this spoon so much we are going to retire it. It is beaten to heck and back.

I don't finish any bowl I use for eating. Why bother?

Burt
 
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Research on Wooden Utensil Sanitation

The big question (asked by my wife ) --- how sanitary are wood surfaces used for food? --- how does one sanitize a wood bowl finished using only mineral oil? and not leave a bad/funny tast in it?

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

Very interesting testing of plastic V wooden cutting boards. I use this all the time. Hand wash with warm - hot soapy water. This is for meat.

Salads and other foods would be easier and just as sanitary.

John:)
 

Donna Banfield

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Why bother putting finishes on bowls intended for food?

I don't know why people put finishes on utensils meant for food consumption. It will just wear off and guess where a good portion of it goes?

I don't finish any bowl I use for eating. Why bother?


The simple answer is because they look better and most of the bowls I make are for sale. If it doesn't look good, it won't sell.

If they don't continue to look good that can be a problem for future sales. I do shows that I return to year after year. And I see some of my customers, year after year. Can you imagine what my sales would be like if my booth was filled with potential future customers, and an old customer walked in, and announces that the bowl they bought from me last year looks like crap now? Booth quickly empties, the only sound is crickets chirping....:(
 
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I have read a lot about this subject and turners have different ideas on what is the best solution for finishing a salad bowl. Personally I tried several ways and using Watco Danish oil is my favorite. I not sure it the best way but you have to settle on what you believe is the best and to me that is Danish Oil for the finish.
 
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why bowl finish

I don't know why people put finishes on utensils meant for food consumption. It will just wear off and guess where a good portion of it goes?

I don't finish any bowl I use for eating. Why bother?


The simple answer is because they look better and most of the bowls I make are for sale. If it doesn't look good, it won't sell.

If they don't continue to look good that can be a problem for future sales. I do shows that I return to year after year. And I see some of my customers, year after year. Can you imagine what my sales would be like if my booth was filled with potential future customers, and an old customer walked in, and announces that the bowl they bought from me last year looks like crap now? Booth quickly empties, the only sound is crickets chirping....:(

Donna-I agree with you, I'd hate it to get "furry" like when my brother-in-law soaked a butternut dish I gave them as a thank you hospitality gift. :eek: Gretch
 
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This subject just keeps crawling back out of the shavings! I wish I could look in the home of every person who has expressed pause about using a turned wooden item for food. I bet I could find food prep or service items in 99% of them that contained lead, aluminum or other harmful substances that they use on a regular basis without a thought. They probably nuke food in the micro in plastic containers that give off who knows what sort of toxic gases. They probably use pans with old non-stick coatings. Many of them probably intentionally consume a known neurotoxin (alcohol) on a daily basis or even to excess. And they are worried about eating salad out of a little wooden bowl with a cured oil finish?
 
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Yeah, Carole, they probably eat sashimi, too.
 
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Interesting subject. I recall a state requirement that wooden cutting boards be replaced by plastic cutting boards. Does this really make any sense? It's my understanding that bacteria that don't live in wood survive in the cuts a knife leaves in a plastic board.

Malcolm Smith.
 
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Interesting subject. I recall a state requirement that wooden cutting boards be replaced by plastic cutting boards. Does this really make any sense? It's my understanding that bacteria that don't live in wood survive in the cuts a knife leaves in a plastic board.

Malcolm Smith.
http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

The article linked above comes to that conclusion - the germs go beneath the surface in a wood cutting board, and don't multiply--eventually dying off. On a plastic board they are able to hang out, thrive, and multiply in the knife cuts.
 
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Thanks, I believe it was Connecticut where I used to live that required us all to use the plastic boards.

Malcolm Smith.

In fairness, the presumption is that the board will be run through a dishwasher - not possible with wood - where the final rinse will be a protein-denaturing 160F. That would sterilize the board nicely. The old butcher block was salted nightly when we cut meat, killing by osmotic effect.
 
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