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Mike Minto
08-17-2009, 7:59 AM
what do you all use when making bowls, spoons & other utensils for food service? any particularly bad (toxic?). thanks, mike

Thomas Knapp
08-18-2009, 5:23 PM
Beech, Birch, Maple and Sycamore are all good choices. They are close grained, so they don't have big open pores for food to get stuck in. They also don't impart much flavor to food.
Yew (taxus) has poison in it. I wouldn't use any strong smelling or strong tasting woods. I'd stay away from woods with open grain structure also.
( Red Oak for one example) Spalting is caused by several different types of fungus I am not sure how edible any of them are. I wouldn't use spalted wood for food unless there is a study that shows it is safe.
Tom

Joel Goodman
08-19-2009, 11:52 AM
If you Google "wood toxicity" you can see several charts that list what's toxic -- both to ingest and to breathe the dust of. Spalted wood is a no no as are many exotics.

Mike Minto
08-19-2009, 1:08 PM
yes, joel, i'm sure i could - but people post on forums like this one to hear responses of a more 'personal' experience, from people who's opinions they have come to trust. it's just like when people say, 'read the faq' - well, searches don't always reveal everything related to a subject one is looking for, or answer it in a way one might seek. if a person doesn't want to answer a question, just go to the next topic. mike

Cody Colston
08-19-2009, 3:02 PM
I agree on close-grained woods like Maple and Beech. I disagree that using spalted wood for food contact is dangerous.

Yes, spalting is caused by fungal organisms but if you go outside, you are breathing those same organisms since they are constantly in the air, just like pollen.

There were recently a couple of great articles about spalted wood in Fine Woodworking magazine from a Phd that specializes in it. She's actually done clinical research on spalted wood and debunks much of the misinformation about it that is found on the internet.

Joel Goodman
08-19-2009, 4:50 PM
yes, joel, i'm sure i could - but people post on forums like this one to hear responses of a more 'personal' experience, from people who's opinions they have come to trust. it's just like when people say, 'read the faq' - well, searches don't always reveal everything related to a subject one is looking for, or answer it in a way one might seek. if a person doesn't want to answer a question, just go to the next topic. mike

Sorry if I offended you -- I happened to be looking at a few charts of wood toxicity last week and found it useful. I thought you might.

Mike Minto
08-19-2009, 7:01 PM
joel, i'm not offended by anything you or anyone else says here on the forum - and didn't mean to offend you, either. it's just i see similar responses, particularly ones to the effect of 'read the faq', by people who think they are making a point by saying that; again, to that i say, if a person is not interested in a posting's subject, they should simply not post to that thread, and leave the thread to those who are interested. mike

David Keller NC
08-23-2009, 3:57 PM
Just about any wood is OK for food contact unless its yew and certain tropical species that are in the poison ivy family, so long as the utensil has a film finish on it. That pretty much means any domestic species.

For items that will not have a film finish (such as just wax, or a non-drying oil like walnut or mineral), I'd avoid woods that are strongly allergy inducing. Generally that means staying away from the rosewood family.

You are certainly safe with maple, though that could get a bit boring after a while.

Jeff Willard
08-24-2009, 11:45 AM
Just about any wood is OK for food contact unless its yew and certain tropical species that are in the poison ivy family,...

Avoid oleander-at all costs.

phil harold
08-25-2009, 8:21 AM
what do you all use when making bowls, spoons & other utensils for food service? any particularly bad (toxic?). thanks, mike



there is many ill effects associated with woods just for starters here is a reference of Potentially Toxic Woods (http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm)

/Class: irritant sensitizers
/Reaction Category: Eye and skin irritation, Respiratory problems. Nausea, Cancer
/Potency: Small, great, extreme.
/Source: Dust or wood, or both
/Incidence: Unknown, rare, or common.


Afromosia: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory/great/dust/rare
Alder: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory
Angelico: irritant/eye & skin, respiratory/great/dust
Arborvitae: irritant/respiratory
Ash: irritant/respiratory
Baldcypress: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust/rare
Balsam fir: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Beech: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/rare
Birch: sensitizer/respiratory, nausea/great/dust, wood/rare
Black locust: irritant/nausea/great/rare
Blackwood: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Boxwood: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust, wood/rare
Cashew: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust, wood/rare
Chechem: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/unknown
Cocobolo: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Dahoma: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/common
Ebony: irritant, sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Elm: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Fir: irritant/eye & skin/small/rare
Goncolo alves: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust, wood/rare
Greenheart: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Guarea: sensitizer/eye & skin/extreme/dust/rare
Hemlock: nasal cancer/great/dust/rare
Ipe: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin
Iroko: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Katon: irritant/respiratory
Kingwood: irritant/eye & skin
Mahogany, American: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Mahogany, African: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust/rare
Makore: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin
Mansonia: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Manzinilla: irritant/respiratory/dust/rare
Maple: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/rare
Mimosa: irritant/nasal/extreme/dust, wood/common
Myrtle: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/common
Oak, red: nasal/great/dust/rare
Obeche: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust/common
Olivewood: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust, wood/common
Opepe: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust/rare
Orangewood: respiratory/rare
Padauk: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin, nausea/extreme/dust, wood/common
Pau ferro: sensitizer/eye & skin/small/dust, wood/rare
Peroba rose: sensitizer/respiratory/great/dust, wood/common
Peroba white: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin
Purpleheart: sensitizer/eye & skin, nausea/small/dust, wood/rare
Quebracho: nasal cancer/great/dust/rare
Ramin: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/small/dust/rare
Redwood: sensitizer/respiratory, nasal cancer/small/dust/rare
Rosewood(s): irritant, sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Satinwood: irritant/respiratory, eye & skin/extreme/dust, wood/common
Sassafras: sensitizer/respiratory, nausea, nasal cancer/small/dust, wood/rare
Sequoia: irritant/respiratory, nasal cancer/small/dust, wood/rare
Snakewood: irritant/respiratory/great/dust, wood/rare
Spruce: sensitizer/respiratory/small/dust, wood/rare
Stavewood: irritant/respiratory
Sucupira: irritant/respiratory
Teak: sensitizer/eye & skin/extreme/dust/common
Walnut, black: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/leaves & bark/unknown
Wenge: sensitizer/respiratory, eye & skin/great/dust/common
Willow: sensitizer/nasal cancer/great/dust/unknown
W. redcedar: sensitizer/respiratory, nasal cancer/great/dust/common
Yew, Europe: irritant/eye & skin/great/dust/common
Zebrawood: sensitizer/eye & skin/great/dust/rare

phil harold
08-25-2009, 9:08 AM
Another one


http://www.mnwoodturners.com/New_Member_Docs/Toxic_Woods_Chart.html

Peter Benders
09-24-2009, 9:34 PM
i'm sure it will not be toxic... i've heard of maple being used very often:)

Vic Castello
10-14-2009, 9:27 AM
Tell you a story that is kind of and kind of not related to this topic. Back in the early 80ies I worked in a supermarket. They had large wooden benches used to prepare produce for sale. Anyway, the state made it illegal to use wooden benches to prepare food due to possible contamination. They made stores switch to metal. I asked what they were going to do with that big solid old wooden produce bench, with tons of storage space underneath it. They said bust it up and dump it. That never happened! I went there the next day with some friends and a pickup truck, and it's been in my basement ever since! After a good cleaning, sanding and painting, I've used it for anything and everything over the years.

:)

Richard Chan
10-14-2009, 4:28 PM
How about apple wood? I know its good for the smoker:).

Jeff Willard
10-14-2009, 5:06 PM
If you can eat it, you can eat off of it-I guess.

Chris Tsutsui
10-14-2009, 8:18 PM
Get a wood they make cutting boards out of.

Maple is probably my favorite.

Or Bamboo. heh

Beech is used for wooden spoons and that sort.