Food Safe Paint?

I recently got a question from a reader {hi Val!}

She said:

"Oh, one quick question... when you are going to use something for food, do you use a different paint on it? Thanks!"

The truth is I have yet to paint something that I was going to be using for food. Her question was referring to the Cloche's I had found and repainted from the thrift store. I guess the pictures make them seem larger than they are because Val thought they were cake stands. If I were going to be using these for displaying food {maybe a pretty cupcake?} I would either line the bottom with paper doilies, parchment paper or something similar so that the food would not come in contact with the paint. The other thing you could do is to apply a protective finish to the piece that would be "food safe." Here is a good article from "Popular Woodworking" that describes the FDA's regulations/definitions for "food safe" so you can make up your own mind whether to use these products or not.

I know that there are paints out there marketed as "food safe," a google search might bring those up. Good Luck Val!