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- Food Safety and Wood Countertops p1, p2, bibliography
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Food Safety and Wood Countertops:
Myth, Common Sense and Truth
By Ken Williamson
Bibliography
The following is a substantially complete abstracted bibliography of the published papers having to do with bacteria, food safety and wood cutting boards. Some of the articles compare wood against plastic, and some just wood.
The first two articles point out the problems with the research, the first reporting that their study showed that bacteria bonded to wood and the second one showing the opposite
FOOD CONTACT SURFACE SANITIZING
Abrishami, S.H., Tall, B.D., Bruursema, T., Epstein, P., and Shah, D. 1994. Bacterial adherence and viability on cutting board surfaces. J. Food Safety. 14:153-172.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, wood, plastic, E. coli, adherence, attachment, xylem, viability
ABSTRACT: Evaluation of the adherence and viability of Escherichia coli inoculated onto the surfaces of plastic cutting boards and new and used wood cutting boards. Objectives were to evaluate bacterial attachment and viability to plastic and wooden cutting board surfaces, to determine if either material exhibited bacterial growth-promoting or inhibiting properties, and to examine the retention of bacteria on surfaces after a low temperature, non-detergent wash in a modified commercial dishwasher. Results corroborated the anecdotal concept that bacteria are better retained on wooden than plastic cutting board surfaces. When exposure time was extended to 2 h, > 90% of the cells placed on new and used dry wood surfaces were not recovered after vigorous rinsing. Studies demonstrated that bacteria adhering to wood surfaces resided within the structural and vegetative elements of the wood's xylem tissues and were viable; wood was more retentive than plastic; penetration of the inoculum liquid promoted cell adherence to the wood matrix; and conditioning of wood with water before inoculation interfered with bacterial adherence.
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Ak, N.O., Cliver, D.O., and Kaspar, C.W. 1994. Cutting boards of plastic and wood contaminated experimentally with bacteria. J. Food Prot. 57(1):16-22.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, wood, plastic, comparison, cross-contamination, E. coli, L. monocytogenes, S. typhimurium, recovery, survival
ABSTRACT: Study of the microbiology of plastic and wooden cutting boards and comparison of their potential to promote cross-contamination of foods in home kitchens. New and used plastic (four polymers plus hard rubber) and wood (nine hardwoods) cutting boards were cut into 5-cm squares ("blocks"). Escherichia coli (3 strains, including O157:H7), Listeria innocua, L. monocytogenes, or Salmonella typhimurium was applied to the block surface in nutrient broth or chicken juice and recovered by soaking the surface in nutrient broth or pressing the block onto nutrient agar, within 3-10 min or up to ca. 12 h later. Bacteria inoculated onto plastic blocks were readily recovered for minutes to hours and would multiply if held overnight. Recoveries from wooden blocks were generally less than those from plastic blocks, regardless of new or used status; differences increased with holding time. Clean wood blocks usually absorbed the inoculum completely within 3-10 min. If these fluids contained 103-104 CFU of bacteria likely to come from raw meat or poultry, the bacteria generally could not be recovered after entering the wood. If > or = 106 CFU were applied, bacteria might be recovered from wood after 12 h at room temperature and high humidity, but numbers were reduced by at least 98%, and often more than 99.9%. Mineral oil treatment of the wood surface had little effect on the microbiological findings. These results do not support the often-heard assertion that plastic cutting boards are more sanitary than wood.
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Ak, N.O., Cliver, D.O., and Kaspar, C.W. 1994. Decontamination of plastic and wooden cutting boards for kitchen use. J. Food Prot. 57(1):23-30.
KEYWORDS: Sanitizer, cutting board, wood, plastic, comparison, cross-contamination, recovery,
survival, chicken fat, humidity
ABSTRACT: Study with objective to compare the cleaning and decontamination of plastic and wooden cutting boards so as to prevent cross-contamination under conditions pertinent to home kitchens. Persistence and overnight multiplication of bacteria on plastic surfaces depended on maintenance of humidity so as to prevent drying of the contaminant. New plastic cutting surfaces were relatively easy to clean and were microbiologically neutral, but plastic boards with extensive knife scars were difficult to clean manually, especially if they had deposits of chicken fat on them. Fewer bacteria were generally recovered from wooden blocks than from plastic blocks. Clean wood blocks rapidly absorbed all of the inoculum, after which the bacteria could not be recovered within 3 to 10 minutes. If the board surface