An Email Conversation May 2015 - Is Renaissance Wax Safe for use on chopping boards?

> Question
> Is the Renaissance microcrystalline wax/polish food safe?
> Can I use it on cutting boards?
> Can I melt it into Mineral Oil instead of using beeswax?
> Cheers
> Gary
 

Gary,
See here for the fuller story
http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/3146.htm

an excerpt below - emphasis is mine
ADI = average daily intake

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Following a request from The European Commission, the Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (ANS) was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on microcrystalline wax (E 905) when used as a food additive. Microcrystalline wax (E 905) is authorised quantum satis as a surface treatment agent on non-chocolate confectionery, chewing gum and decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings. It is also permitted as a surface treatment of melons, papaya, mango and avocado. The substance was evaluated by the Scientific Committee on Food (SCF) in 1990 and 1995 and by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), the latest in 1995. The JECFA established a group ADI of 20 mg/kg bw/day for mineral oils, paraffins and microcrystalline waxes. The Panel noted that all mineral oil products accumulated in tissues in a dose- and time-dependent manner with the exception of microcrystalline waxes. The Panel concluded that there is no concern for genotoxicity from microcrystalline wax (E 905). The Panel also considered that the available toxicity studies with mineral hydrocarbons, closely related from a chemical point of view with microcrystalline waxes, consistently reported no effects of concern associated with the intake of microcrystalline wax. The Panel further concluded that since no long-term toxicity and carcinogenicity studies with microcrystalline wax E 905 were available, no ADI could be established. The Panel also concluded that the conservative exposure estimates to microcrystalline wax (E 905) from its use at maximum permitted level (following quantum satis rules), resulted in a sufficient margin of safety compared to the NOAEL established by the Panel for the closely related high viscosity mineral oils, and therefore the use microcrystalline wax (E 905) as a food additive with the currently authorised uses would not be of safety concern.

© European Food Safety Authority, 2013
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In my opinion it is 'food safe' in the sense it will not be a problem on chopping boards. It is clearly not a smart thing, or likely to be 'food safe', if you were to tuck into a few spoonfulls a day hence the use of the term quantam satis, 'the amount which is needed''
If the Euro standard for MC wax states that it is 'safe for kids toys' (reference - the Liberon Products catalogue) it is going to be OK for chopping boards.

In life and wood working safety is a very elusive and relative thing to discuss. 

To digress for a bit, many woods themselves are probably toxic - certainly the dust thereof - and a few are likely to be carcingenic - e.g. cypress pine which white ants rarely if ever touch.  Any wood they won't eat is likely to be unsafe to breathe the dust of.

My personal experience with splinters of mulga and a couple of other western desert acacias is instructive for me - they fester and produce pus around the splinter comparatively quickly. 

I have a few sticks of an understory tree from Eastern Australia called rhodosphaera rhodanthema - aka Tortoiseshell Tulip Wood - one of the most beautiful woods I have worked - but every time I work it and inhale some dust my heart rate noticeabley picks up.  It will almost certainly have an alkaloid which is a heart stimulant.

Best wishes
Mike