WSU Thurston County

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Thurston County Extension

Food Safety: Cooking Equipment

The Olympian, April 15, 1998

Cutting boards are one of the most used preparation tools in the kitchen. They are frequently the cause of cross contamination because they are used in multiple ways without appropriate cleaning and sanitizing.

A study by the Food and Drug Administration found 26 percent of American consumers don’t clean cutting boards after using them with raw poultry, fish, and meat.

Question: What’s the best surface for cutting boards?

Answer: If you have been following the news and research reports, you know that there has been some disagreement about the best type of cutting board to use in your home, wood or plastic. The latest word from Food and Drug Administration research plastic cutting boards. The FDA found that wood appears to absorb bacteria into cracks and if not cleaned out, could contaminate food placed on the board. Wood boards may look pretty, but they may put you and your family at greater risk for food borne illness.

Question: What is the best way to clean a cutting board?

Answer: First, hand wash the board, using hot water and dish detergent to remove food particles. After the board is washed, it should be sanitized. You may choose to hand sanitize the cutting board by placing the board in a mixture of 1 teaspoon chlorine bleach in one quart of water, then air drying. You may also choose to keep this mixture in a spray bottle and spray after washing.

Another good and easy way to sanitize the cutting board is to place it in your dishwasher. In the dishwasher, sanitizing is accomplished in the hot water rinse cycle. Some research suggests using the dishwasher to clean and sanitize plastic cutting boards is the best way to make certain they are clean and sanitary.

Question: How often should you clean and sanitize a cutting board?

Answer: Cutting boards should always be washed and sanitized after using them for raw foods. There’s a strong potential for cross-contamination of bacteria when you use a cutting board for multiple purposes without cleaning and sanitizing. This is especially true if you use the same board for raw products such as meat and poultry and for cutting ready to eat fruits and vegetables.

It’s a good idea to have several cutting boards in your kitchen. Use one for raw foods and the other for ready-to-eat foods such as breads, fresh fruit, and pre-cooked products. In many commercial food service operations, employees use color coded cutting boards to guard against cross-contamination.

Question: I’ve had the same cutting board for many years. Is it safe?

Answer: You should check for cracks and crevices that might harbor bacteria. If you have them, then it’s time to purchase some new boards.

Commercially, cutting boards can be resurfaced. However, for the home cook, it’s usually easy and inexpensive to buy new ones.

Question: Could you explain cross contamination in cutting boards?

Answer: Let’s say you decide to make hamburger patties on your cutting board. If you failed to wash and sanitize the cutting board and the hamburger was contaminated with E.coli, then the bacteria could be on the board. If you prepared a tossed salad, cutting lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on the same board, you have the potential of contamination with E. Coli. Since the salad isn’t cooked like hamburgers, your family could become seriously ill.

B. Susie Craig

Area Faculty

WSU Cooperative Extension Thurston County

WSU Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.  Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension Office.   Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the county of Thurston.

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