I am passionate about hardwood maple cooking utensils because I am aware of so many toxins and poisons we are bombarded with daily. The food we eat has often travelled for thousands of miles and we don't even know if it's nutritious. This is why I believe that we shouldn't have to worry about the cookware we're using. It should be clean, non-toxic and be able to withstand the heat of cooking. After researching much of this and after my own personal experience with wooden spurtles, better known for stirring porridge, I discovered that the first one I purchased was made of myrtle wood. This wood is not meant to be used in hot food and is not safe for culinary use. In other words, it's poisonous wood.
The second spurtle I received began to split after only a few uses. This most likely meant that the wood was green and hadn't been aged. When wood splits, bacteria may collect inside the cracks.
Wood being too green or poisonous wood being used all makes for a less expensive product but is it worth it? I believe you can't put a price on your health and the fewer toxins, the better.
High quality hardwood maple is anti-bacterial, non-toxic and a beautiful smooth hard wood that can not only withstand heat when you're cooking and stirring hot food but it makes for a beautiful cookware stirring utensil that will last a lifetime.