Woods to use/not to use for Kitchen/food surface items

[PTsideshow]

As with the differing woods that have the property to cause skin and respiratory problems. What woods can be used for cutting boards, herb/seasoning mills,bread/biscuit bowls, salad bowls etc.

The reason I'm interested in what kind of wood, to make safe items my son did a artisan food show the other week end (he does custom smoked and Q meats). He said there was a guy selling cutting boards that where made up from what looked like pallets and any junk/found wood. He also had some that designs in the surface made with what looked like copper wire, well aged with a Verdigris patina on it.

Verdigris consists of various poisonous copper compounds, and one should was hands after coming in contact. None of the items the guy was selling had any type of warnings or disclaimers about food contact safe or not.

So I thought I could get some information from the turners on this forum as to safe wood choices, or at least the wood to stay away from.
:clown:

 

[greggas]

Many woods affect some folks adversely. If you googl toxic woods you can see many links with info. I sell cutting and serving boards year round and always include a wood care sheet that also warns customers to the possible allergic reactions to basically any type of wood....felt it a necessity in the litigious world we live in.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Alton Brown of the TV show Good Eats said that Rock Maple makes the best wooden cutting boards.

 

[keithkarl2007]

Beech, Sycamore and Maple are commonly used for cutting boards although bacteria doesn't live long on wooden cutting boards.

 

[dgerwin11]

Hard (Sugar) maple, acer saccharum is a preferred wood as it is so closely grained as to resist absorbing odors and tastes.

 

[Martin G]

I was wondering about this too. I'd like to turn a salt cellar. I don't have a big enough block of maple in stock but I've got some cherry and some oak. Would either one of those be a problem?

 

[dgerwin11]

I would be hesitant about oak. Very open grained and has a very unpleasant odor.

 

[nava1uni]

Beech, Sycamore and Maple are commonly used for cutting boards although bacteria doesn't live long on wooden cutting boards.

I work as a Public Health Nurse and teach food safety Actually wood does absorb meat juice, especially poultry and, as such, harbors bacteria. For this reason you should not use the same board for cutting vegetables. You should also always wash and air dry the board so that it doesn't stay damp. Occasionally you should apply a light solution of bleach and water to really kill the bacteria, let it air dry and then re-oil with mineral oil.

 

[elody21]

What concerns me is seeing the use of spalted woods in pepper mills, cutting boards etc... As we all know the spalt is a mold. I can only assume that would be a health hazard.
Alice

 

[SDB777]

What concerns me is seeing the use of spalted woods in pepper mills, cutting boards etc... As we all know the spalt is a mold. I can only assume that would be a health hazard.
Alice

Spalting is caused by fungii, and that isn't going to be good either.




>>>> Wood Toxicity Table <<<<







Scott

 

[lago]

I recall a post that I came across on another woodworking forum in regards to safe wood for cutting boards.

IIRC, wood from food trees was considered to be safe: pecan, walnut, cherry, maple, and hickory. Might be others but I can't think of them right now.

Lago

 

[woodwizzard]

More than 20 yrs ago the Forest Products Research Lab, Food Section, in Madison, Wisconsin, published a paper on the anti-bacteria properties of wood. Almost any species, depending on staining properties, can be used for food. Some Quercus sp. (oak) have a smell, but most drinking alcohol is aged in oak barrels. The green color on the wood being used for cutting boards made from "found" wood could have been CCA, Chrome, Copper, Arsenate, a very toxic combination, possibly still used to preserve telephone poles.

 

[PTsideshow]

The green color on the wood being used for cutting boards made from "found" wood could have been CCA, Chrome, Copper, Arsenate, a very toxic combination, possibly still used to preserve telephone poles.

Mostly it was an applied chemical patina, over the copper wire and copper flashing used as accents. And yes it is toxic and not to be used for food. some of the wood was old garage siding with faded chalky paint most likely a lead based paint!

That is one problem with the internet, people blog, post,(teach) on their sites and others about using household items to age,antique craft products but don't mention that the chemicals can be bad or toxic. I have been told that spraying a clear over over a toxic patina will protect it! Which it will not do anything to stop the effects on the body.
:clown:

 

[fernhills]

Cutting boards have to be smooth. Weather it safe or not i would not want to eat off something that is dirty. That is what happens if food particles get under bark and fissures and knots and open rotten grain. Organic, they claim, Yeah, right. Carl

 

[WillieD]

I agree with woodwizzard. Most any species of wood should be safe.

One of the things I make is jewelry and there are many woods that can't be used due to the constant contact with skin. Contact dermatitis is something I always tell customers is a risk. But as a food contact surface, the only ones I know of that should be avoided are Black Bean, Chechen and Moabi.

BTW - Copper arsenate is is still widely used as a preservative on landscape timbers and decking woods.