TO USE WOOD OR POLYETHYLENE CUTTING BOARDS

While researching for information on our laboratory product which is about determining the survival of microorganism on hardwood cutting boards and polyethylene (plastic) board, I found a research already done on the subject. There have been debates on whether the former, or later are safer to use and when asked what they thought most people said that bacterial will survive more on wood board even after sanitizing. Miller, Brown, and Call (1996), carried out a research to determine potential attachment and removal of bacteria from ground beef on wooden and polyethylene cutting boards. As their methods the researchers used meat and Escherichia coli samples on the board while maintaining basic sanitary measures.  At the end of their experiment, Miller, et al. (1996) found out that beef bacterial micro biota on polyethylene and wooden cutting boards had similar potential for attachment and removal. Nevertheless bacterial count and growth were higher on the new wooden cutting board at the end of the exposure than the old one. This might be due to the fact that wood is biodegradable and so provide a favorable environment for bacterial to grow and reproduce. Bacterial count will normally reduce with the old wood cutting board due to the presence of cracks and cuts which harbor bacterial. On the other hand, old plastic board will harbor more bacteria even after cleaning since it is not biodegradable. Despite the results of this experiment, it does not exclude contrary findings on the same topic. So it is up to everyone to decide either to use wood which does not keep bacteria on its surface or use plastic but replace it often due to the cracks. Whichever method one chooses, it is important to use proper sanitary measures in cleaning them in order to avoid diseases from bacteria like salmonella. This article was not only interesting in relation to my project but also in connection to what is thought in class on physical method of microbial control. This is because before controlling the growth and spread of a microbe, one must learn about the condition under which they survive.

Works Cited

Miller AJ, B. T. (1996). comparison of wooden and polyethylene Cutting Boards: Potential for the attachment and removal of bacteria fron ground beef. Eastern regional research center , 1-5.