craftgrrl | food-safe table top finishes (Reply)

hi all... i've been lurking around here for a while, but up until now have had no craftiness to share ;) but now i've got a question for you all... i've undertaken stripping and refinishing a table/chair set for my kitchen, given to me for free by a friend. the paint that was on there was unfortunate, but that's being remedied with a little paint stripper and a lot of elbow grease. the chairs will be easy, they are simply going to be stripped down to the wood and refinished. the table top threw me for a loop however, because under the paint it isn't wood, but pressboard-type-stuff. yuck. so that can't be finished like the chairs. i've got the idea in my head to do a sort of collage on the top, and while that is still being mulled over/sorted out, i've looked ahead to my main question...

since this is going to be a kitchen table, are there any kinds of finishes (such as mod podge, etc.) that are *not* food safe (or the reverse, are there any that are specifically made for such things)? i've used the stuff before, but never for something like this, so am wondering if i should be more careful about what product/process i choose to use, since the surface will be exposed to food, moisture and probably a little bit of heat. does anyone have any experience with this, or suggestions to make? i think once i get to that point, i'll be heading to the hardware store to see what i can find, but wanted to have an idea of what i'm looking for first. any info would be most welcome.

and i will, of course, be posting before/during/after photos of the project once i'm done :)