Reply to "Food-Safe Paint Brushes for Children to Paint Cookies"

Good question! I haven't seen any small paint brushes that are officially food-grade either, and I doubt too many companies would be willing to invest the thousands of dollars required for testing for certified "food-safe" status. This question also begs the question of how far we should take food safety - what's reasonable? For instance, I place my cookies on non-food-grade wood surfaces when I decorate sometimes. Is that bad? Who knows? We all take calculated risks every day . . . my guess is that natural bristle brushes that have been sanitized, and that don't have painted handles (which can chip) or seams (are easy to clean/don't harbor bacteria) are pretty darn safe. I'd further posit that the artificial food colorings that we're feeding kids are far worse for them than brushes making momentary contact with cookies. But that's just my feeling; you'd have to make your own personal risk assessment on that.