News — plastic cutting boards

If you're asking "what's the best cutting board material to reduce bacteria retention at home, bamboo or plastic?", current food safety research points to high quality bamboo boards. Multiple studies have found that bamboo can hold up to 50–200 times fewer live bacteria on its surface after washing compared with heavily scored plastic, provided you clean it properly and replace it every 5–10 years. Bamboo vs plastic cutting boards: what the bacteria studies actually show Food safety research over the last 30 years has compared how materials behave once they are cut, washed and reused. The key findings are surprisingly...

If you want the most hygienic everyday board based on current UK and international research, a well maintained bamboo board is usually safer than a scratched plastic board, because bacteria are less able to survive in the shallow, self sealing cuts of dense bamboo. Studies from food safety bodies show plastic boards can hold up to 3 to 5 times more live bacteria once heavily scored, while well cared for bamboo and wood boards often test clean after normal washing. Bamboo vs plastic cutting boards: what UK studies actually say Food Standards Agency (FSA) guidance in the UK is clear...

If you clean them properly, bamboo cutting boards do not harbour more bacteria than plastic cutting boards. In several kitchen hygiene studies, plastic boards often held 2 to 3 times more live bacteria in deep knife grooves than well maintained wooden or bamboo boards, while dry bamboo surfaces reduced bacteria by up to 90% within a few hours. Do bamboo cutting boards harbour more bacteria than plastic cutting boards? The short answer is no, not when both are used and cleaned correctly. Moso bamboo is naturally dense, low porosity and contains antimicrobial compounds, which helps limit how deeply moisture and...

If you want to keep your knives sharper for longer, high quality Moso bamboo cutting boards are usually kinder to your edges than hard plastic boards, with many home cooks seeing 20 to 30 percent less sharpening over a year compared to heavy use on plastic. The key is choosing well finished bamboo at the right hardness and using it correctly, rather than the material being “bad” by default. Are bamboo cutting boards bad for your knives compared to plastic? Short answer: no, good bamboo boards are not bad for your knives, and can actually be gentler than many plastic...