food-safe sealant? (for dining room table)

[bostonsmama]

So I started a new, HUGE project :giggle I'm painting our entire dining room set. It's an old, antique set but it is getting to the point where the table would need to be completely redone to be "worth" anything, kwim? SO, inspired by a very cool blog, I decided I'd paint it :cool I'm doing the chairs/buffet in a distressed cream (with black accents) and the table will have distressed cream legs and a black top. I don't really want to buy glass to go on the table because it will take away from the 'english cottage' look I'm going for... :giggle BUT, I also HAVE to seal it with something because we can't eat on paint and I have to wash the table, kwim? SO, any ideas of what I can use? I need it to be durable, but safe at the same time.... :shrug

[Marielle]

here's some good info and it looks like shellac would work. But honestly since it's for a table and it's not like you're going to serve hot greasy stuff directly on the table (thus the heat kickstarting any leaching) you could pretty much put on anything that would be safe for you to apply (thus smell, etc.).

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/SkillsAndTechniques/SkillsAndTechniquesArticle.aspx?id=26893

eta one more link which proves that investigating ingredients even for food safe labeled products worth the trouble:

http://www.woodmagazine.com/materials-guide/finishes/is-your-finish-food-safe/