General Category > General Discussion

Wood for Food

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seventhdevil:
surely the passing of the millenia has stated that just about any wood is safe unless consumed...

Twisted Trees:
According to Kew Gardens although Yew leaves are very toxic, and Yew bark contains lesser amounts of the toxin Yew timber does not contain any actual poison, it does however react with wine to make toxin. so from that you can say with reasonable certainty that Yew is not poison in contact with dry foods, or even when licked.

As mentioned above allergies are a different matter and there will be someone out there that is allergic to every substance, there is also the risk of other contaminants getting into timber particularly open grain timbers.

Personally I stick to mostly safe timber for things that will contact wet food / children, and identify the timber used so that those with allergies can make a decision.

It is more likely that the finishes we use will be the toxic element than the timber under it. Food safe danish oil still contains nuts!

Derek:
Thank you all for the input so the short answer to my original question is that nobody knows for sure, this seems to be a common problem on various forums that I asked the question.

Percy:
Our ancestors would have drunk from wooden bowls and cups for well over a thousand years. One of the main reasons for turners work was to create eating and drinking utensils. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that most native hardwoods and fruit woods are the standard for eating utensils, and likewise some evidence that using poisonous woods is not a good idea! Robin Wood's book, The Wooden Bowl is a good source of historical info about eating bowls and cups. His research shows that common wood for eating bowls would have been alder, maple, birch, ash, elm, poplar and oak.
My family all use wooden bowls for their breakfast and have done for the last 5 years - they have their favourites and these are made from ash, elm, oak and pear wood (all of these finished with flax seed oil). All still seem to be in robust health!

GBF:
I use Sycamore or Beech for food bowls but I am sure other woods are equally safe

Regards George

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