Wooden cutting boards are cleaner than plastic cutting boards.

With a wooden cutting board, bacteria are drawn down into the grooves on the surface, where they cannot multiply and may even die.

The biggest advantage of plastic cutting boards lies primarily in their smooth surface. You can pour boiling water on them or scrub them clean without worrying about damaging them. But is that the reason to say plastic cutting boards are actually better than wooden ones?

Professor Dean O. Cliver, a food safety expert at the University of California (USA), and a group of students cultured salmonella bacteria on newly used plastic and wooden cutting boards and then cleaned the boards with soap and hot water using dishcloths.

With wooden cutting boards, bacteria are drawn down into the grooves on the surface, where they can no longer multiply and may even die. Even old wooden cutting boards with deep grooves show just as low levels of bacteria as new ones.

"You might think that bacteria nestled in the grooves would re-attach to food when we chop with a knife," Cliver told Rodalesorganiclife recently. However, his research shows that bacteria never reappear on the cutting board surface, even when food is chopped repeatedly with a sharp knife.

Wooden cutting boards absorb bacteria, while plastic cutting boards cannot. Therefore, bacteria remain on the surface of plastic cutting boards, making them unsafe.

Meanwhile, plastic cutting boards, even after being cleaned and disinfected several times, still harbor bacteria. "With plastic cutting boards, even after washing them under hot water, the bacteria in the grooves survive. Dishwashers don't eliminate the problem either because the bacteria don't die but instead settle and stick back onto the dishes inside the dishwasher. Even when using disinfectants (like chlorine bleach), you can still find bacteria remaining in the grooves of the cutting board," Cliver said.

A similar study conducted by the Institute of Technology and Management also showed that unless soaked in disinfectant overnight, plastic cutting boards are extremely prone to accumulating stubborn food residue. This residue provides an ideal environment for bacteria and mold to thrive.

Applying Professor Cliver's research, both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have recommended that people use cutting boards made from maple wood (also known as the type of wood used for cutting boards in the U.S.) or other hardwoods. However, it's important to remember that you won't get any benefit from using a wooden cutting board if you don't clean the surface before use. Cliver advises: "Don't let food residue build up on the cutting board. Clean it immediately while in use."

According to VNE