- After putting a ton of
time and love into a project, the last thing you wanna do
is cut it with something that might potentially be
harmful to your friends, family, or client that it's going to. Now it's 2020, and I can go look at pictures from Mars, from a robot that was taken there, but what it's okay to set your food on, it's still a really confusing topic, which is crazy. So I'm gonna try to lend a
little bit of clarification to the topic for you. I've got a couple of really
common products here, plano laminated wood, cutting board, and some charcuterie boards. This clearly by the shape, you know, is made for
serving not for cutting. This looks like it
could be a cutting board and on the videos I've done on epoxy cutting boards
question, I get a lot is can you cut on it? Is epoxy food-safe? Et cetera.
Well, I'm gonna wanna knock this out quick, as far as cutting on a epoxy. And I don't wanna
experiment on this thing. I've got a lot of time into it. So I just took an offcut I have and coated this with tabletop
of epoxy from total boat, and we're gonna see what happens when you take a knife to it. A bunch like if you were cutting stuff. So as you already see and to answer a really obvious question, did it, does it scratch? Yes, it does. Let's do blue glove test though. No, it's kind of hard to see, but if you compare the fingers, yes, that is a epoxy dust. So it did flake out a
bunch of dust that yes would end up in your food. So can you cut on an epoxy board? Well, I mean, obviously I just did it. It's a free country. You can cash out your bank
account, burn all the cash. If you want to, you can watch a schmuck on
the internet in his garage and think you're an expert
on a topic after that. You can do whatever you want, but should you, should you do this? Well, I'm not a fan of cutting boards that look like garbage. So I wouldn't, 'cause this is gonna lose
all of its luster and beauty, as soon as you do that. So, you know, cut on something else, throw it on here to serve with, 'cause it looks pretty. But should, should is a much tougher question, and we're gonna dive into that. Now fair warning this part
is gonna be pretty boring 'cause I don't know how or don't care to take the time to figure out how to make it interesting. You pick which one, but should be good information
that explains it to you. So to answer, you know,
should you cut on epoxy, like is that actually gonna hurt you? And also what is it safe
to coat your cutting board salad bowls, et cetera. With what is a food-safe finish? Is everything food-safe
is nothing food-safe? Et cetera. So I put on my law school,
grad hat and dove into the chapter 21 of the CFR, which is the Code of
Federal, Federal Regulations, specifically chapter or section 175, which deals with food additives. Now, before we dive into that too deep, what I'm gonna do is give
you a few definitions. So when I say certain things, we're all on the same page
about what those terms mean. The first is food-grade. So something is food-grade when it is fit for human consumption. So that means you can eat it. So an Apple, food-grade it's food, mineral oil is food-grade. It's actually a petroleum product that's been used as a laxative for a long time. It's also used to coat wood to offer some degree of minimal protection, but it's food-grade. You can ingest it. It's an additive that
can be put in things, olive oil, you know, clearly food-grade wouldn't wanna use something like that in the canning board though, 'cause it can go rancid
at room temperature. That's food-grade, something
that is actually edible. Food-safe means something that
comes into contact with food that's safe with it. Then you also have indirect or say for indirect food contact, things that are say for indirect
food contact and stuff like the labels that's on the outside
of packaging or adhesives used in packaging
materials to seal packages that food is stored in. So, you know, there might be
some indirect food contact with those things. So the idea is, you know, it's not gonna be on there for very long. So you're not very worried about
transferal or contamination from whatever that
substance is into the food and it becoming an additive. However, of course, there
are some things that, you know, is clearly not safe for that. Uranium, arsenic, think of anything else, pineapples, you know, clearly you don't want
that touching anything you're going to eat. So those things should definitely
not be on the outside even of a food package cause there's
a good likelihood of contact and contamination. So then we also have food additives, like indirect food additives and indirect food additive is things that may be added
or not may as in allowed, but may as in possibly could
be added into a food through contact and section 175 of 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations goes over all the allowable
indirect food additives, which are basically things
that can be that are safe to be in a container, et cetera, that food is gonna have contact with. Now it's very important
to know that the FDA does not approve these kinds of products. So there isn't an FDA
approved wood finish. All they do as an administrative agency is regulate products. And in order for something to be deemed, you know, safe, as far as section 175, it goes of 21 of CFR is
that there's two steps. One everything in it has to be approved on all the components of
whatever that additive is. So that finish, that
sealer, that container has to be on the okay list. And that's what 175 is, is it's a giant okay list of, hey, these things we've decided are okay and it covers resins and epoxies and oils, et cetera. Check it out if you're really interested. And a lot of chemical
dryers and stuff like that. So that's step one. You can only use things on that list. Step two is every batch
of product that's created has to be tested depending on the circumstances
in which it's intended to be used. So if you're talking about
just room temperature, food contact, then there's a table that breaks in, okay, for room temperature, food contact, then you have to be,
you know, submerge this in distilled water at 120
degrees for seven hours or 24 hours. And then you test that water
and it's allowed to have so many parts per million
of these components from those things. And so long as it's within
the thresholds then it's okay, if it's something that's
supposed to be rated, say for oven contact, then there's higher
temperatures and times, whether it's for acidic food or not acidic food or solvents or 'cause acids are types
of solvents, et cetera. So step one, you can only use the okay,
things in your product. Step two is every batch of product, you have to test it in
accordance with these guidelines and make sure that everything stays cool. Well, as you can imagine, that's fairly expensive
and gonna be really arduous to test every batch of
product that goes out to make sure it's all good with that range and wood finish companies just, they don't do that. And understandably, they don't do that because the market of, you know, if this is a selling wood finish the amount of wood
finish, that's going on, products intended for food
contact is probably like that. So why spend all the
money on this much product for a market that's like this? So that's when we get
into certain disclaimers on products like this one, which is, you know, Finish Salad Bowl Finish. And this is often touted as a, you know, hey, if you're not sure
you can use this for sure, why can we use this for sure? Because right here it says a nontoxic wind cured finish. So hey, when it's cured, it's nontoxic. But there's been several guys who've done some really elegant articles that have dug into section 175 and looked, looked at the statement. And what they concluded is that
pretty much every component used in common wood finishes, including the metallic driers
and solvents et cetera. In unpigmented, that sort of caveat in unpigment, unpigmented finishes
are on that okay list. So the stuff in this, when cured, it's safe, they're all on the okay list. Just like this stuff, we got armor seal and
high-performance topcoat there. This is a varnish oil polyblend. This is just a polyurethane. Allegedly, all the stuff in
here, I haven't tested it, all, the stuff that most
finished companies use are all on that okay list. So there's nothing in here
that the FDA says you can't use that could potentially be a food contact. Now the uncertainty lies in okay but they don't
test every batch of this for how much leeches out,
so does it leech out? Well, the stuff that's actually harmful as part of the curing process, it cures it and it evaporate
or evaporates and it's, and it's just gone or
it changes the state. And now it's now it's a solid, so it can't leech. So that's where the idea where
anything that's unpigmented is safe. So same can probably said for this, which I like to use Halcyon Clear, which is a varnish polyurethane. However, is rugged Amber, because this is water-based
and not oil-based the color isn't coming from, you know linseed or
flaxseed oil or something. This is actually pigmented
to get the amber. So that pigment, pigments
are on covered in that list. They may or may not be food-safe. That's a different list
and a whole other thing, 'cause there's so many
ways to get pigments and add pigments to finish. So this little riskier to use for food contact. This paint well, it's blue, as you can see from what
I spilled, pigmented. So probably wanna stay away from that. So yeah, almost anything you wanna put in any finish you have, it's unpigmented for wood
when it's cured, not dry, but when it's cured,
which is very different and you can find the cure time, like all kinds of other
fantastic information, probably right there
on the back of the can. This will tell you that you
know how you can recoat it within a couple hours, but that it cures in like 30 days. That's pretty normal, three to four weeks, and if any, if your container doesn't say, then give it 30 days, almost
everything cures in 30 days. And you're safe, maybe. Of course, I also get some
of that hesitation though, where you might be like, yeah, but I wouldn't drink this. And I don't wanna put
this stuff in my body, in an uncured state. So who cares if it's cured or not? I don't want my food touching
something that I wouldn't eat or drink 'cause I'm
not gonna eat or drink the stuff that touched that. Well, I mean, I totally get that, but I think that logic
breaks down pretty quick, unless you routinely eat
wood, metal and plastic. 'Cause I have wood cutting boards. I have plastic cutting boards,
all of my pans are metal. So yeah, my food, my food touches all that stuff. Ceramic, I wouldn't eat ceramic, but I eat off ceramic
plates and plastic plates. So yeah, I think that kind
of breaks down the idea is when it's cured, is it safe or not? And theory is yeah, all that stuff leaves
evaporates, et cetera. Now, if you're hesitant and
you wanna be overly cautious and just stay away from
that stuff and or anything, that might be okay as an
indirect food additive, that doesn't test every batch. So you don't know the
leaching amounts, et cetera. And you just wanna be
safer, I totally get that. So the best way to be safe
is instead of using something that might be okay as an
indirect food additive, like the stuff in our salad bowl finish, is to use things that are food-grade. So they're safe for human consumption, that is also okay as a finish. This can of shellac sort
of falls in that category. I say sort of 'cause it has
shellac, which is food-safe. You can eat shellac it's a
natural product from the lac bug. And if you've ever eaten
fruit from the grocery store, it was probably spreading shellac. If you've ever taken a
time-release capsule, that's made out of shellac, et cetera. But to help this dry
and also to suspend it and emulsify it so that it can be spread. This has ethanol, not
something you wanna drink. Isopropanol, methyl isobutyl ketone. You don't want those
things in your system, but you know what those, all those do, they all evaporate. The only thing that you're left with, oh and it has water too,
which also evaporates. So the only thing you're
left with is the shellac, which is safe, so this is probably okay. However shellac is safe, and what about the stuff
on here that's not? Well that's okay, what you
can do is buy shellac flakes and then just make your own shellac by mixing it with denatured alcohol, denatured alcohol. Again, something you
wouldn't want to ingest. However, if you've ever
worked with denatured alcohol, you know the handy thing about it is how quickly it evaporates
and it's all gone. So use shellac suspended
in denatured alcohol. However, I get it, you're still using some denatured alcohol, which may be an indirect food additive. You wanna stay we're from that cool. Another alternative. This is Mylands finish food safe oil, which is their take on a
paraffin oil or mineral oil, just white oil basically,
which is food-grade. This is Howard's butcher
block conditioner. I use this a lot to finish my cutting board products as well as to just to be the only finish, but also use really like
to use this to revive it, 'cause I don't like to re-oil
with mineral oil or anything. Then this is just food-grade,
mineral oil and natural waxes. So again, food-grade. Another one I haven't
tried yet is Mahoney's this oil wax finish, which is a blend of beeswax, carnauba and other natural wax and walnut oil. And here is the Mahoney's
finish walnut oil, which is a heat-treated
oil to make it polymerize, which all that really
means is they heat this up. So instead of staying a liquid, it will actually turn into a
solid and cure in your board. That's what polymerization is, which is a big difference
between walnut oil and whatever kind of
mineral oil you wanna use. Mineral oil is very commonly
used just because everyone knows it's food-grade. So therefore it's safe
for food, food-safe again. Food-grade, food safe, different terms. But bear with me. But one of the downsides
of using mineral oil and I haven't tried this
particular brand yet Myland they provide this to
me, I'm gonna play with it. So just my experience
with Myland products, this probably won't fall prey to the issue mineral oil normally does, which is that mineral oil
is a non-curing finishes. Doesn't polymerize, it
doesn't turn into a solid, which is why if you've had a cutting board and it's been soaked in mineral oil, which is very common then for quite a while,
it's still it's sticky. And when you have to like wipe
and wipe and wipe and wipe and wipe it off so that you can touch it and not have oil on your hands, well guess what? By the time you've, you've done that and you pick
it up and you can touch it and there's no oil on your hands. That's not because it's cured. That's just because
you've removed the oil. So now the wood is no longer protected. So what's it doing for you? Not much, so if you're tired of having oil stains or not stains, but you know, oil marks on your
counters table, et cetera, all over the place, then maybe get away from using mineral oil and go do something to
that polymerises or, and in a good way to
do that is to use wax. So kind of like the Howard's here. I have quite a few friends
who do cutting boards and what they do is make their own finish commonly called board butter, which is just a combination
of mineral oil and beeswax. You, you know bring it to a simmer, add the beeswax, so it melts, it turns into one then you have a solid and they because of the wax. So that keeps your mineral
oil from staying as oily and beeswax by itself can be
kind of tough to mess with, 'cause it's so solid, so the mineral oil helps
you buff in that beeswax, which is kind of the same idea as this. So just to say the same thing again, if you're hesitant about, you know, using something, that's probably okay for food, but it has some things
that are gonna go away that the FDA says cool. And you definitely wanna stay away from things that are not touted in
that other category of stuff I just moved. But according to 21 CFR 175, I mean, it should be
totally safe for food. Just companies understandably, don't spend all the money in testing to be able to make those statements. You know, you can totally use that. If you're not comfortable
with those options, then just stick with something
that is food-grade and yeah, 'cause if you need it, for sure, you can put it on your wood products that you're gonna put your
food onto without any concerns. Now, one thing I didn't talk about that anyone who's done very much learning or reading about finishes, is as heard of is film
finished or non-film finished non-film finish being you know, kind of your oils that just penetrate and don't build a film on the wood and then harden cure inside the wood. Film finishes being, you know, more of your danish oil, your polyurethanes paints, et cetera, that just build a film
on top of the surface idea being you wanna use a non-film finish because it's gonna soak into the wood and whereas if you use a film
finish and you cut on it, you're gonna break off chips and flakes. Well, that categorization does
serve a very useful purpose, but it's kind of counterintuitive. Or not entirely the whole story because even non-film finishes
that soak into the wood sometimes do still generate a film. And then, you know, a lot of the film finishes we do do still penetrate the wood. So to say it's either,
or isn't entirely true, almost all of them, there's
some degree of both. And there is definitely some credence to the idea of, you know you definitely
don't wanna build up a really thick heavy finish on something that's intended to be cut on because yeah, you can
definitely create flakes. However, if you accept
the idea that once cured, these finishes don't have
anything that's on toxic on them and you're not building up a heavy film. Like all the times I've
used general finishes, the first coat I put in entirely sucks into the wood and it's not until my third or fourth coat that I'm really starting to build a film. So I would be comfortable doing, you know, one or maybe two coats, you know, stopping before
I see it start to build and letting this soak in and
just penetrate into the wood. And that be the finish. One advantage of that over
some of the other finishes is all these more food-grade, you know, things that are
safe for human consumption oils and whatnot is even if they cure,
they tend to wear out. They don't have the same
type of water resistance and they just don't last as long. So they have to be reapplied. And most people, these days
just don't take care of their cutting boards and furnitures the way that they need
to be in order to keep their luster. So if you wanna give a
product to someone and have it looking as good in a few
months or a year or two, as it does when they bought it, these products, aren't gonna do that unless they reapply them. Going in a different way
is going to offer that. But you do have to be very considerate of the way you do that and how you use those products
to not create a chipping or flaking hazard. 'Cause if my personal take,
this is just my own opinion. If I was gonna you know, try something like armor seal
or the house beyond that, I like to use on something
that I intend to cut with, that would be something
only for personal use. I wouldn't be comfortable
with the liability created by using that as a product to sell, just because I have been to law
school and spent three years reading lawsuits. So I wanna minimize risk
as much as possible. So if there ever is somehow any question, I wanna be able point
to a product and say, hey, it's all food-grade stuff, so I'm not doing anything that has a question associated with it. Even if the answer is probably fine, I don't want there to even be a question I want the answer to be, yes, it is fine not
well it's probably fine. Some people might think it's not, but it probably is. Just to be, just cause I'm risk-averse. But that's me. I'm just trying to throw
information that I've gleaned from my research at you to try to, you know, offer some clarification. If you made it this far in the video, you clearly like having
your questions answered and learning new things, which is something I really enjoy. But if you also like learning
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something from this video were inspired or at least entertained. Hopefully, I brought some
clarity to this very confusing topic and until next time, make time to make something.
