News — food safety

If your main concern is food safety, a well sealed hardwood board is safer than a plastic board with deep knife scars, and between acacia and maple chopping boards there’s no meaningful difference in food safety when both are properly maintained. The bigger impact comes from how you use and care for the board: separate boards for raw meat and ready to eat food, washing within 10 minutes, and oiling every 4 to 6 weeks can easily keep bacterial levels below what’s typically found on a home worktop. Acacia vs maple: which chopping board is safest for food? Both acacia...

If your main concern is bacteria, a high quality wooden chopping board is usually safer than a plastic board over time, because bacteria sink into knife grooves in plastic and can survive for 3 to 6 hours longer compared with well cared for wooden boards that naturally draw moisture away from the surface. Wooden vs plastic chopping boards for bacteria: the short answer In controlled tests, wooden boards often show fewer live bacteria on the cutting surface after cleaning than heavily scored plastic boards. Wood, especially bamboo and hardwoods like acacia, absorbs moisture into its fibres, which helps dry out...

If you cook meat, poultry or fish even once a month, the safest option is to use at least 2 separate chopping boards: one for raw food and one for cooked or ready to eat food. Food safety guidance in the UK is clear that separating raw and cooked foods sharply reduces the risk of cross contamination from bacteria like salmonella and campylobacter. Why separate chopping boards for raw and cooked food? When you cut raw chicken on a board, tiny amounts of raw juice stay in the knife marks. Even after a quick rinse, those grooves can hold bacteria....

If you want to handle raw chicken safely, the best cutting board is a dedicated, non porous board that is at least 38x28cm in size, weighs around 1.2kg or more so it will not slip, and is easy to sanitise after every use. In practice that means choosing a board with a sealed surface, a juice groove and enough area so raw juices stay on the board and off your worktop. Why raw chicken needs its own cutting board Raw chicken can carry bacteria such as Campylobacter and Salmonella. The simplest way to keep your kitchen safer is to use...