Be careful if you have this kind of cutting board at home!

Hello, this is Science Popularization China. When it comes to food safety, what do you think of? Is it the freshness of the ingredients, or whether the oil is reused? In fact, the cleaning and maintenance of the cutting board also has a great impact on food safety.

For example, a wooden cutting board that has been used for a long time will have many scratches, which are easy to hide dirt and breed bacteria and mold. Moreover, if the meat residue is stuck in the gap of the cutting board when cutting raw meat, other foods are easily contaminated by bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella on the raw meat, which may cause food poisoning in serious cases.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Brian Wangenheim

So how to use a cutting board in the most reasonable way? It is recommended that we prepare at least two cutting boards at home to separate raw and cooked food, so as to avoid cross-transmission of bacteria. If conditions permit, you can also separate meat and vegetables, which is safer.

If you look at the various materials of cutting boards and don't know how to choose, I can also give you a tip. I have summarized that wooden cutting boards are suitable for those ingredients that require heavy work such as chopping and chopping, while silicone, plastic or stainless steel cutting boards are lighter and easier to clean, which can reduce your burden in the kitchen. If you don't cook often, or rarely need to do heavy work such as chopping and chopping, silicone or plastic cutting boards are actually more suitable for you.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Ephraim Mayrena

Choosing the right cutting board is not enough. If you don't clean it thoroughly, it will also become moldy and breed bacteria. Therefore, you must clean the cutting board in time after using it. It is best to rinse it with detergent and water. Then wipe it dry with kitchen paper or hang it up/stand it upright to dry. This will prevent bacteria from growing and keep it dry.

Of course, different materials have different ways to maintain cutting boards. If it is a silicone cutting board, you can directly boil it for more than 10 minutes to disinfect it, but for hard cutting boards such as wood, bamboo, stainless steel and plastic, it is recommended to use detergent and water to thoroughly clean the cutting board to ensure the surface is clean. Then use 75% alcohol to wipe the surface of the cutting board for further disinfection.

Image source: unsplash.com Photographer: Rob Hampson

In short, there is nothing trivial in the kitchen. It is important to have two cutting boards at home to separate raw and cooked food. However, cutting boards are consumables after all. Once you find mold, discoloration, cracking, deformation, too many scratches, or falling off, you must replace them in time to avoid harm from your mouth.

The first thing you do when you get home from get off work today is to go to the kitchen and check the condition of your cutting board!

Review | Ruan Guangfeng, Deputy Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center