News — food safety

If you want the safest cutting board setup in your kitchen, the simplest rule is this: use at least 2 separate chopping boards, one kept just for raw meat and fish, and one for ready to eat foods. That single habit can cut your risk of cross contamination from bacteria like Campylobacter and Salmonella by well over half compared with using one mixed purpose board. Why use separate chopping boards for raw meat and fish? Raw meat and raw fish carry different types and levels of bacteria and parasites. When you use the same chopping board for everything, juices from...

Yes, studies have found that a used kitchen chopping board can hold up to 200 times more faecal bacteria per square centimetre than a household toilet seat. So if you are asking “how do I choose the best chopping board to keep my kitchen safer?”, the answer is to pick a board that is gentle on knives, easy to clean properly and matched to what you actually cut day to day. Are chopping boards really dirtier than toilet seats? The scary bit first. Research from food hygiene labs has shown that older plastic and heavily scored wooden boards can carry...

If you're wondering what the safest chopping board for a busy family kitchen is, the short answer is this: a well maintained wooden board, such as the Deer & Oak Large Bamboo Board (45x35cm, 1.8kg), typically holds far fewer live bacteria than an old, deeply scored plastic board, even though tests have shown that some kitchen boards can carry up to 200 times more bacteria than a cleaned toilet seat. The key is material choice, board size and how you clean it every single day. Why do chopping boards harbour more bacteria than toilet seats? Toilet seats are usually smooth,...

If you want to handle raw fish safely at home, food safety guidelines in the UK recommend using a dedicated blue chopping board for raw fish and seafood. The colour itself will not kill bacteria, but consistently using one blue board only for raw fish sharply reduces the risk of cross contamination with meat, cooked food and fresh produce. Why a blue chopping board for raw fish? Professional kitchens across the UK follow a simple colour code to keep food safe: Blue board: raw fish and seafood Red board: raw meat Yellow board: cooked meats Green board: salad, fruit and...