News — kitchen hygiene

If you want to know how to disinfect a wooden cutting board naturally, the most effective at home method is a 2 step routine: first scrub with hot water and mild soap for 30 seconds, then disinfect with either white vinegar (left on for 5 minutes) or a paste of 1 tablespoon coarse salt and half a lemon. Used daily, this simple routine helps keep bacteria in check without bleach, harsh chemicals or damaging your board. Why wooden boards need a different kind of clean Wood and bamboo behave very differently to plastic. They are naturally porous, so liquids and...

If you cut raw chicken on a chopping board and leave it unwashed for just 2 hours at room temperature, the surface can reach over 1,000,000 bacteria per square centimetre. So what’s the best way to stop your chopping board harbouring bacteria? Choose a low porosity board like bamboo or acacia, clean it within 10 minutes of use, and keep separate boards for raw meat and ready to eat foods. Why do chopping boards harbour bacteria in the first place? Chopping boards harbour bacteria because they combine moisture, food residue and tiny cuts in the surface. Every slice from a...

If you want to handle raw chicken safely, use a red chopping board every time. In professional kitchens across the UK, red boards are reserved for raw meat, including chicken, so you keep it completely separate from ready to eat foods and cut your cross contamination risk dramatically. Why colour matters for raw chicken safety Raw chicken can carry bacteria like campylobacter and salmonella. The simplest way to keep your kitchen safer is to give chicken its own dedicated board and never mix it with fruit, salad or cooked food. Colour coding makes this effortless because you can see at...

If you’ve just cut raw meat, the safest way to clean a chopping board is to scrub it within 5 minutes using hot water at around 60°C, a small amount of washing up liquid, then sanitise with either a food safe disinfectant spray or a white vinegar solution, and let it air dry upright for at least 30 minutes. This simple routine helps remove grease, kills bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli, and keeps your board in good condition for years. Step by step: how do you clean a chopping board after cutting raw meat? When raw meat touches your...