Food Safety and Wood Countertops:
Myth, Common Sense and Truth
Bibliography
was coated with chicken fat, some bacteria might be recovered even after 12 h at room temperature and high humidity. Cleaning with hot water and detergent generally removed these bacteria, regardless of bacterial species, wood species, and whether the wood was new or used.
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Anderson, M.E., Marshall, R.T., Stringer, W., and Naumann, H. 1977. Efficacies of three sanitizers under six conditions of application to surfaces of beef. J. Food Sci. 42(2):326-329.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, chlorine, acetic acid, quaternary ammonium, application, efficacy, selective, bacteria
ABSTRACT: Determination of the efficacies of three sanitizers (chlorine, acetic acid, and quaternary ammonium), optimum conditions for applying them, and whether they selectively eliminated portions of the microflora. Acetic acid gave a high initial average decrease in counts (-1.47 log), and counts decreased (-1.79 log) up to 48 hr after sanitization. Chlorinated solution caused an initial mean difference of -0.31 log and a difference after 48 hr of 0.53. The quaternary ammonium compound produced differences of -0.79 and -0.03 log in immediate and 48-hr counts. Acetic acid and hypochlorite were nonselective, but the quaternary sanitizer allowed more oxidase positive, nonfermentative bacteria to survive.
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Anon. 1994. Microbial pathogens readily trapped in wood of cutting boards. Am. Soc. Microbiol. News. 60(8):408.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, wood, survival, adherence, photo, electron photomicrograph, E. coli, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp.
ABSTRACT: Quotes findings of D. Shah and B. Tall (FDA) and S. Abrishami (NSF International), which indicate that microbial pathogens (e.g. Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella spp., and Campylobacter spp.) are readily trapped in the porous surfaces of wooden cutting boards, and can survive for prolonged periods if the wood remains damp, but remain viable for at least 2 h even after the surface has been dried. Also included is a photo (scanning electron photomicrograph) showing enterohemorrhagic E. coli cells adhering to wood.
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FROM: Banks, A.L. TO: Letter to O.P. Snyder. September 28, 1994. RE: Response to 8/17/94 letter to FDA Commissioner David Kessler.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, study, FDA, NSF, bacteria, retention, absorbent
ABSTRACT: Response to referenced letter, which raises a question about the accuracy of retail food safety information as provided by FDA personnel and the methods being used to convey the information. Regarding the question of validity of a recent study on cutting boards, the author defends the study jointly published by FDA and NSF in which wood cutting board surfaces are said to retain more bacteria than plastic cutting board surfaces (with claim that bacteria reside in the inner structural and nutrient-conducting elements of wood tissues), that the bacteria are metabolically active and viable after resident times of at least 2 hrs, that wood has greater retentive properties than plastic even after cold water rinsing, and so forth. No intention of redoing the study is indicated, and disagreement is expressed at the claim that the study was biased and flawed. Despite the findings of the study, however, there is no indication that FDA intends to further prohibit use of wooden cutting boards (beyond the statement in 1993 food code that wood may not be used as a food-contact surface except in some well defined circumstances, and the specification that hard maple or an equivalently hard, close grained, and [relatively] nonabsorbent wood be used in those cutting boards constructed of wood).
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Bauer, J.M., Beronio, C.A., and Rubino, J. 1995. Antibacterial activity of environmentally "green" alternative products tested in standard antimicrobial tests and a simulated in-use assay. J. Environ. Health. 57(7):13-18.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, alternative, "green", comparison, assessment, antimicrobial, antibacterial, AOAC, EPA, S. aureus, S. choleraesuis, K. pneumoniae, E. coli, transfer, contamination, efficacy
ABSTRACT: Examination of the ability of "green" products to kill or eliminate representative Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria from nonporous surfaces. Assessment of the antimicrobial activity of the products using tests required for EPA registration as antibacterial. None of the alternative products met the required levels against S. aureus or S. choleraesuis (using AOAC Use Dilution Method). None of the "green" products achieved required levels of sanitizing activity against S. aureus and K. pneumoniae (using EPA Non-Food Contact Sanitizer Test). In a test simulating in-use conditions (inoculation of Formica surface with E. coli or S. aureus, surface then dried and treated with a "green" product or an EPA registered disinfectant or water alone), the "green" products showed no significant reduction in bacterial levels on the surface and showed a high level of contamination transferred to the sponge. The EPA registered disinfectant reduced counts on both the surface and the sponge to minimal or nondetectable levels for both types of bacteria.
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Brody, J. 1993. Wood found to be safer choice than plastic for cutting board. Star Tribune. Minneapolis, MN. March 2, 1993.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, plastic, wood, comparison, antibacterial
ABSTRACT: Article by New York Times reporter which appeared in Variety section of Star Tribune. Reports on the observations of D. Cliver and N. Ak of the Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, that bacteria were killed on wood cutting boards but increased in numbers on plastic cutting boards. [Reference appears to be to the unpublished data of Cliver and Ak entitled "Microbiology of cutting boards for food safety."] The observation was made during research which had been intended to find ways to decontaminate wooden cutting boards and make them as safe as plastic. Plastic boards were assumed to be safer because the surface is non-porous and contaminating organisms could be readily washed off. Wood boards, on the other hand, were believed to provide a place into which bacteria could soak, making removal difficult, but also allowing cross-contamination on a subsequent use of the board.