Lube in your food! - a kitchen hardware question

msarro

Ok, now that I got the lube joke out of the way...
I just received a vintage hand cranked meat slicer from my grandfather. The thing is from the 40's, and is basically a deli meat slicer where the blade is turned by hand. It hasn't been used in years and years, so we had to take it apart and give it a really thorough cleaning. Between the blade and the crank there are some gears and a bearing, which had a thick supply of grease on them. The grease had long been inundated with dirt and grime, so we used a light abrasive and solvent to clean everything. It now looks brilliant and shiny, but I need to find a new lubricant to put in its place. On the off chance that it could come in with food, I'd prefer something that isn't dangerous to consume.

Any advice would really be appreciated. I know it can't be something too rare considering other food grade slicers have lubricants too.