News — food safety

If you handle raw meat at home and want the safest option, plastic and wooden chopping boards can both be hygienic when cleaned properly, but a dedicated wooden board that is at least 38x28cm and 1.2kg with a finely sanded, pre oiled surface is usually better for everyday raw meat prep because it is kinder to knives, stable on the worktop and naturally discourages deep scoring where bacteria can linger. Plastic vs wooden chopping boards for raw meat: the simple answer So are plastic or wooden chopping boards better for raw meat? In a typical British kitchen where you cook...

If you want to know how safe and hygienic bamboo chopping boards are compared to plastic, the short answer is: high quality bamboo boards are at least as safe as plastic and, when cared for properly, can stay hygienic for 5 to 10 years, while many plastic boards need replacing every 1 to 3 years due to deep knife grooves and staining. Are bamboo chopping boards really more hygienic than plastic? Several kitchen studies have shown that bacteria struggle to survive on well finished wooden and bamboo boards compared to plastic. On a plastic board, knife cuts can trap moisture...

If you want the most hygienic board for everyday cooking, studies suggest that traditional hardwood boards can trap and reduce surface bacteria by up to 90% within a few hours, while bamboo behaves more like a very hard, low-porosity surface. That does not mean bamboo is unsafe, but it does explain why some tests say wooden cutting boards are more antibacterial than bamboo, even though moso bamboo is one of the most eco-friendly board materials you can buy. Why do some studies say wooden cutting boards are more antibacterial than bamboo? The key reason is how different materials interact with...

If you want the safest bamboo cutting board for raw chicken, choose a closed grain Moso bamboo board that is at least 38x28cm, around 1.2 to 1.8kg in weight, pre oiled, and kept only for meat. At Deer & Oak, our dedicated meat board recommendation is the Large Bamboo Board (45x35cm, 1.8kg, Moso bamboo, SKU DNO-BCB-LG), used only for raw chicken and other poultry to limit cross contamination. Why bamboo is a safe choice for raw chicken Bamboo is naturally dense and less porous than many soft woods, which helps slow down how quickly raw chicken juices soak in. When...