News — food safety

If you want the best colour coded chopping boards for raw meat in the UK, the most hygienic approach is to dedicate a single board to raw meat and pair it with clearly marked boards for cooked food and vegetables. A practical, long lasting setup is a 45x35cm raw meat board plus a 38x28cm board for other foods, such as the Deer & Oak Bamboo Double Pack which gives you 2 boards you can colour code with clips or stickers for under £50. Why colour coded chopping boards matter for raw meat Raw chicken, beef and pork carry bacteria that...

If you are wondering what the safest board is for daily cooking, studies show that bamboo cutting boards can trap bacteria when they are poorly sealed, deeply scored or left damp for more than 20 minutes. Well finished Moso bamboo boards that are pre oiled, dried upright and replaced every 5 to 10 years perform very differently from cheap, untreated bamboo that absorbs juices and stays wet. Why do studies show bamboo cutting boards trap bacteria? Several food safety studies compare plastic, hardwood and bamboo. When bamboo cutting boards are made from low density, unsealed strips and tested with raw...

If you clean them properly, high quality bamboo cutting boards can significantly reduce bacterial growth compared with deeply scarred plastic, because bamboo is naturally dense, less absorbent and creates fewer deep knife grooves where bacteria can multiply. In typical home use, a well cared for moso bamboo board can stay hygienic for 5 to 10 years, provided you wash it promptly, dry it upright and oil it every 4 to 6 weeks. How bamboo cutting boards help prevent bacterial growth So can bamboo cutting boards prevent bacterial growth completely? No board can stop all microbes, but moso bamboo gives you...

If you prepare raw fish and fresh vegetables at home more than once a week, then yes, you should use separate chopping boards for fish and veg to cut the risk of cross contamination by up to 60% compared with using a single board and casual rinsing. The simplest way is to keep one clearly designated board for raw fish and another for vegetables and ready to eat foods, and to stick to that system every time you cook. Why separate chopping boards for fish and veg make sense Raw fish can carry bacteria such as Vibrio and Salmonella, as...