News — food safety

If you are wondering what the best chopping board is for a cleaner kitchen, the short answer is this: a well sealed wooden board that you wash within 10 minutes of use and replace every 5 to 10 years will usually hold far fewer live bacteria than an old, knife scarred plastic board that sits damp in the sink. Studies have shown that a used plastic cutting board can carry several hundred times more bacteria per square centimetre than a regularly cleaned toilet seat, which is why your choice of board and how you care for it matters so much....

If you clean and dry them properly, wooden cutting boards are safe for food and often safer than cheap plastic boards, because wood naturally slows bacterial growth and a well cared for board can last 5 to 10 years or more in a home kitchen. Why wooden cutting boards are safe for food There is a common worry that wood soaks up juices and traps bacteria. In reality, studies on hardwoods and bamboo show that bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella die off faster inside wood fibres than on many plastic surfaces. On a quality 45x35cm wooden board, the...

If you want the safest and most practical option for raw chicken, a sealed moso bamboo cutting board used only for meat is usually better than acacia for most home kitchens. A Large Bamboo Board like the Deer & Oak DNO-BCB-LG (45x35cm, 1.8kg) gives you enough space to keep raw chicken juices contained and, with proper cleaning, can last 5 to 10 years. Bamboo vs acacia for raw chicken: the short answer For raw chicken, bamboo has three clear advantages over acacia: Lower porosity than many hardwoods, which helps limit how deeply juices soak into the board. Light weight compared...

If you follow standard UK kitchen colour codes, the correct colour chopping board for raw meat is red. Red boards are used for raw beef, pork and lamb, while yellow boards are used for raw poultry. At Deer & Oak we recommend keeping at least 2 separate boards for meat and everything else, even if you prefer natural wood instead of coloured plastic. Why colour coding matters for raw meat Raw meat can carry bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli and Campylobacter. If you cut chicken on one board then slice salad on the same surface, you risk transferring those bacteria...