Do you think we will eventually learn, as we did with wooden cutting boards (ie. they are safer than plastic which was supposed to be safe because of not scarring....and of course it does and then bacteria and food hide out in the scratches) that what we have been doing (in my case, using olive oil on wooden knife handles, wooden bowls, etc.)will turn out to be OK. You generally wash these surfaces....I've never been of the pursuasion that you just wipe out a salad bowl...and since we all know these surfaces need to be reoiled...perhaps that keeps the oils renewed enough to lessen the problem.

Or perhaps, as I have heard about wooden cutting boards, there is an inherant germ killing effect by the wood (said to be from the natural protection the tree has to have to stay in one place...they can't run away from danger...and survive.) I do recognise that germs and oxidation by products aren't the same thing....who knows?