Question for any Dr.'s out there re: peeling fruit with knife or preparing camp food

W

winchester73

Joined
Jan 6, 2008
Messages
710
There was a time when everyone used 3 in 1 oil to protect their knives. With todays oils snd synthetics such as break free or corrosion x, I wonder about using your folder or fixed blade to prepare camp food amd toxicity even if wiped off. Anyone know?
 
As a biomedical scientist here in the UK we have to follow legislation titled Control Of Substances Hazardous to Health. The basic priciples are :

1. Elimination - i.e do we need to use the substance at all
2. Substitution - i.e. is there a safer substance that can be used
3. Control - if 1.& 2. do not apply, exposure to the substance must be controlled by using personal protective equipment or safe systems of work.

In a nutshell, use mineral oil as it is safe to injest (in larger amounts it acts as a laxative).

I hope this wasn't too techy
 
Mineral oil, it's cheap and you can lube your blade and your gut at the same time. Multi tasking product.
 
Yes to mireral oil! I've been using it for awhile now. Thats all I'll use from here on out. Wish I would have known about it years ago. :)
 
Great posts guys. I have been using mineral oil for years before I knew about this vital information. The way I figured it, was anything that is derived from a natural source must be OK for the human body. I sure am glad I used plain old God given reasoning to figure that out.
 
sunnyd said:
Great posts guys. I have been using mineral oil for years before I knew about this vital information. The way I figured it, was anything that is derived from a natural source must be OK for the human body. I sure am glad I used plain old God given reasoning to figure that out.
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Well you got lucky in this instance. People need to be careful with the line of thinking that "natural" things are OK for human consumption. Lots of poisons are natural. Lots of plants are toxic. Luckily humans have learned over our evolution which natural items are safe and even good for us.

Having said that, mineral oil is fine.
 
What about vegetable oil? I have used a dab of vegetable oil before-I did not have any mineral oil at the time.
 
Vegetable oil is food safe, but unlike mineral oil, vegetable oil can, and will eventually go rancid.


Gautier
 
Barty said:
Well you got lucky in this instance. People need to be careful with the line of thinking that "natural" things are OK for human consumption. Lots of poisons are natural. Lots of plants are toxic. Luckily humans have learned over our evolution which natural items are safe and even good for us.

Having said that, mineral oil is fine.
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Yeah, my thoughts exactly.... I mean, in all reality, 3in1 oil is a petroleum product, a little processing removed and it is natural oil out of the ground... :D


I use Balistol. Bio degradable, water soluble and food safe(although not legally certified as so in the USA, it is in europe IIRC)


G.
 
Barty said:
Well you got lucky in this instance. People need to be careful with the line of thinking that "natural" things are OK for human consumption. Lots of poisons are natural. Lots of plants are toxic. Luckily humans have learned over our evolution which natural items are safe and even good for us.

Having said that, mineral oil is fine.
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Precisely- the "all natural is good" route can be dangerous. Hydrogen cyanide is naturally found in apple seeds. Botulism toxin is naturally produced by Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium- it's one of the most toxic compounds on the planet.

I like mineral oil, with the barest possible drop of light petroleum oil for the pivots.
 
Ice Tigre said:
I use Balistol. Bio degradable, water soluble and food safe(although not legally certified as so in the USA, it is in europe IIRC)

G.
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I like Ballistol too. I particularly like that I can put it on wooden handles and leather sheaths as well as metal and not worry about degradation. I'm pretty sure I read that they use it for lubrication in the food industry.

Most oils though, a good wipe off before use and it won't to kill you.

If you are a maintenance junkie then half the fun is cleaning it up when you get home.
 
I've been using Havoline, 3 in one, Philips Trop-artic or just whatever the heck i had on the shelf for about 50 yrs now. I wipe my knife off with a rag then cut up the fruit. My joints always seem to work better with those oils. Maybe I'll try the Vegetable Oil and see if that works also.
 
I have used 3 in 1 oil my whole life. I do wipe the blade off good before using on any food product though. I don't feel that any trace amount of oil that accidently injested is going to cause any harm. Frankly, I don't see what all the hype is about.
 
AFAIK, mineral oil is a petroleum product. For our purposes, however, it's fairly inert.

I'm pretty skeptical about potential threats posed by such small amounts of lubricants on my blades posing a health risk. Realistically, I'm sure we all have had much worse things in our mouths. ;) My bigger concern is that if the taste of the food is affected, not the health risk. Probably a more useful sign that any particular substance is being used in excess.
 
shecky said:
AFAIK, mineral oil is a petroleum product. For our purposes, however, it's fairly inert.

I'm pretty skeptical about potential threats posed by such small amounts of lubricants on my blades posing a health risk. Realistically, I'm sure we all have had much worse things in our mouths. ;) My bigger concern is that if the taste of the food is affected, not the health risk. Probably a more useful sign that any particular substance is being used in excess.
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Shecky,

Not an issue. Please see the following link for more information.


http://www.steoil.com/about.asp


Add to Edit:

I am not affiliated with aforementioned link/company and do not endorse this product in any way. The foregoing is for informational data only.

Best,

Anthony
 
Yeah, having tasted mineral oil, I can say it has no real taste, just an oily feel. But I was referring to using products other than mineral oil, such as 3-in 1, which certainly have a smell and most likely, a taste.
 
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