Spalted wood for Food bowls?

[Dan Kralemann]

I have some spalted Silver Maple and was asked if I could make some food bowls from this wood. I told the person that I do not know if the spalting of the wood means that it can or can not be used as a container for food stuff, but that I would find out. Soooooooo:

1) Can spalted wood be used as a food container (dry food, salad or cereal)?
2) If it can, is there a specific finish that needs to be used?

Thanks, Dan

[Noah Barfield]

I've used a spalted maple bowl for the past year to store fruit, bread, etc. with no ill effects. I finished the bowl with walnut oil and caranuba wax.

Noah

[Donny Lawson]

I would say it would be fine as long as the wood is dry. A good DNA bath works great for this. After turning, a food safe mineral oil or walnut oil would work great.

[Tim Rinehart]

This topic and various aspects of spalting and safety can be read thru the article provided in this SMC thread from a couple years ago. http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?110064-Article-With-Links-on-Spalting&highlight=spalting There's alot of info from Dr. Sara Robinson on the topic, and she is pretty much the current day guru on the topic....and she's a turner, so how cool is that.

[Dan Kralemann]

Thank you for your comments. Thanks also Tim for the direction to Sara's information. Besides other great info about spalting this is what I found:

Fact or Fiction: finished spalted wood products should not be placed in contact with food

Fiction! If you dried your bowl before you finished it, the fungus is dormant in the wood. That means that, while not dead, it is no longer reproducing or producing spores. Any current spores in your wood will be sealed in by your finish. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using spalted wood for food items, as long as it is properly dried and sealed.

Dan