If the finish is water soluble or can be removed in the dishwasher then it
can be removed at the dinner table. Even though walnut, sunflower, and
olive oils are considered safe some people are allergic and the oil can be
deadly. Curried finishes can still leach toxic materials. Before declaring
a finish food safe you need to have a TCLP (Toxicity Characteristic leaching
Procedure) performed to ensure the finish is safe. Heavy metals, not just
lead, can be leached from many solids.

I agree that many finishes are safe when cured but I have seen the reselts
from enough tests to know that they are not all safe. We need to be
carefull when we use the turm Food Safe.


"LRod" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 11:49:58 +0000, Alun
wrote:

I've no idea what finish I applied at the
time, but I'm fairly certain it wasn't food safe

This is rapidly taking over as the biggest urban myth in woodworking
(next to exploding dust collection systems).

Virtually any finish except lead paint is "food safe" once it's cured.
In fact, there may not even be any finishes that can make the claim
"food safe" due to the exceedingly difficult FDA standards it would
have to meet. But that a company elects not to incur the expense of
testing and certification just to be able to make the claim doesn't
mean that the finish isn't "food safe."

Don't take my word for it. Look it up. The three major finishing
experts, Dresdner, Jewitt, and Flexner, all pretty much say the same
thing: once a finish is fully cured you have little to fear from it.

See the article "Which Finishes are Food Safe?" in the April, 1998,
Fine Woodworking.


--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997