the aBC network just put a big dent in the wood cutting board business, as if things arent bad enough for guys who make custom stuff out of wood
Seems theres a big concern about salmonella infection in something like 40 states.....and they suggest not using wood cutting boards, but getting plastic ones, easier to keep clean, and even said to get one in different colors so you can code them to remember what foods youre cutting on them.
This topic comes up regularly. Dean O. Cliver, Ph.D. from the University of California (Davis), is a published expert in food safety and foodborne disease.
I took the opportunity a while back to contact Dr. Cliver and query him about his findings as there seemed to be a number of inconsistencies or "half quotes" on various web sites. Dr. Cliver was very accommodating and forwarded an article he authored.
View attachment BORDTALK.doc
The article also listed a number of other publications by Dr. Cliver that I located. Acording to Dr. Cliver's findings, contrary to some popular beliefs, wood doesn't seem to have a magical ability to kill bacteria outright. However, wood cutting boards do appear to be safer according to his research though. Wood, unlike plastic, absorbs the liquids/bacteria and removes it from contract with food later placed on the same board. Dr. Cliver states though, that digging into the wood will reveal the bacteria is still there but it because it's not sitting on top of the board like a plastic one, greatly reduces the cross contamination likelihood.
The attached article didn't deal with the mineral oil issue which also comes p regularly, but in a seperate paper extract below, Dr. Cliver also states "Mineral oil treatment of the wood surface had little effect on the microbiological findings."
So there you have it, wood boards are safer than plastic if properly cleaned and taken care of AND mineral oil does not create a health problem.
Mike
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"The microbiology of plastic and wooden cutting boards was studied, regarding cross-contamination of foods in home kitchens. New and used plastic (four polymers plus hard rubber) and wood(nine hardwoods) cutting boards were cut into 5-cm squares("blocks"). Escherichia coli (two nonpathogenic strains plus type OI57:H7), Listeria innocua, L. monocytogenes, or Salmonella typhimurium was applied to the 25-cm2 block surface in nutrient broth or chicken juice and recovered by soaking the surface in nutrient broth or pressing the block onto nutrient agar, within 3-10 min or up to ca. 12 h later. Bacteria inoculated onto plastic blocks were readily recovered for minutes to hours and would multiply if held overnight. Recoveries from wooden blocks were generally less than those from plastic blocks, regardless of new or used status; differences increased with holding time. Clean wood blocks usually absorbed the inoculum completely within 3-10 min. If these fluids contained 103-104 CFU of bacteria likely to come from raw meat or poultry, the
bacteria generally could not be recovered after entering the wood. If =106 CFU were applied, bacteria might be recovered from wood after 12 h at room temperature and high humidity, but numbers were reduced by at least 98%, and often more than 99.9%.
Mineral oil treatment of the wood surface had little effect on the microbiological findings. These results do not support the often-heard assertion that plastic cutting boards are more sanitary than wood."
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