Danish oil food safety?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Patrick - have used mineral oil only on cutting boards and wooden spatulas before and if I remember correctly the procedure was to coat the item until saturated, wipe off excess and then let dry for 30 days before use. I remember wiping things down a number of times the first few days. It does eventually 'dry' out to the touch.

[Patrick Taylor]

Patrick - have used mineral oil only on cutting boards and wooden spatulas before and if I remember correctly the procedure was to coat the item until saturated, wipe off excess and then let dry for 30 days before use. I remember wiping things down a number of times the first few days. It does eventually 'dry' out to the touch.

Perfect! Thanks, Steve. For some reason I had the hardest time finding that bit of information anywhere.

[Dave Carey]

I just saw a post on another board re this same issue. The poster claimed anything BUT mineral oil was pretty much acceptable. Apparently some experiments dumping bacteria on wood showed that the wood didn't support the growth of the bacteria except when it was coated with mineral oil.

When making cutting boards I finished them with Behlen's salad bowl finish (I think that's spelled correctly but I won't swear to it.) Anyway, it's made to be food safe, can be washed and dried after use and recoated when necessary.

Send me a PM if you want and I'll tell you where I saw the other post. Cheers

[Don Orr]

...is funny stuff. When you saturate a piece of wood as you have, it will weep out for quite a while. To get some of it off the surface, try washing it with MILD soap and warm water and towelling it dry right away. The good thing about mineral oil is it is easily replenished by the owner, just like a cutting board. You can get it cheap in drug stores. It's used as a laxative .


I also found the article from the University of Alaksa about wood vs plastic cutting boards.

http//www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF11/1121B.html

[Patrick Taylor]

I just saw a post on another board re this same issue. The poster claimed anything BUT mineral oil was pretty much acceptable. Apparently some experiments dumping bacteria on wood showed that the wood didn't support the growth of the bacteria except when it was coated with mineral oil.

When making cutting boards I finished them with Behlen's salad bowl finish (I think that's spelled correctly but I won't swear to it.) Anyway, it's made to be food safe, can be washed and dried after use and recoated when necessary.

Send me a PM if you want and I'll tell you where I saw the other post. Cheers

I saw the post that you're speaking of. I believe I can post a link to this article describing the study. [edit: Don beat me to it!]

They say that the bacteria inexplicably "disappeared" from the wood surface (perhaps they crawled inside? ) and that sealing the wood with mineral oil meant that more of the "placed" bacteria were "recovered" in a manner that you would expect from a sealed surface like plastic. It sounds to me like you'd get the same pore-sealing effect from any oil, and most other finishes too.

Based on what I read, IMHO It seems inaccurate to say that mineral oil caused problems or is unsafe, just that it negates the unexplained natural resistance of wood to bacteria by sealing the pores. If that's all, then I'm not too worried about mineral oil since we are all using and washing non-porous food surfaces every day. AND the same effect would seem to occur for any finish, oil or otherwise.

[Jim Becker]

• As stated several times, all finishes sold to day are "food safe" (there really isn't such a designation...) when fully cured
• Tried and True's products, while I love them personally, only have an "advantage", as it were, when the product isn't yet cured. Once cured, it's the same as all the others in this respect. Their claims are from the marketing department, not science
• Mineral oil doesn't cure, but it doesn't go rancid like vegetable based oils will and is renewable. I makes for an attractive, easy to clean surface with out a film that can be damaged via cutting...which is why it's so popular (almost a defacto standard) for finishing cutting boards and salad items

[Patrick Taylor]

Thanks everyone for your input. I was feeling overwhelmed by all the finishing options, and really wanted to know what other people had settled on after trying different methods. I feel like I have a few simple methods now that I understand and feel like I know when each is appropriate.

Thanks again.