The following question was posed by Jake as a comment on another thread but I’ve moved it here because I think it deserves a post of its own:

hi, can some one refresh my memory do you put sanding sealer on before food related oil or just oil(food safe) for food related items you have turned and does the oil make it shine or is it dull thank you.  they say its an age thing but icant remember whatits about thanks  jake

The Toolpost website gives a good overview of Chestnut products but the bits relevant to this question are:

1. Oil finishes are specially designed to penetrate the wood to give a natural water-resistant finish with a soft sheen
2. Don’t use sealers if you plan to use finishing oil as the sealer will inhibit the oil’s penetration of the timber

In other words, oils are designed to soak into the timber whereas sealers are designed to prevent things from soaking into timber.

With regards to getting a shine finish, you could add wax or burnishing cream on top of an oil finish after it has completely set (maybe 24-48 hours) but doing this with food safe oil would immediately negate its food safeness so there really is no point. I don’t know if adding extra coats of food safe oil would increase the shine but I suspect a soft sheen is the best you can expect.