On Wed, 17 Oct 2007 01:40:18 -0700, "
wrote:

On Oct 17, 2:59 am, "Lew Hodgett" wrote:

I'm curious.

In this day and age of low cost, FDA approved, polypropolene cutting
boards, why bother making a wooden one except as a display piece or a
gift.

Lew

Actually, some folks have run an entirely new battery of tests that
indicate that the old woodies are safer for the kitchen than plastic
due to the grooves left by a sharp knife. With a plastic board, the
soft plastic simply rolls over on either side of the groove left when
cutting. Examination of my own polyprop boards revealed this scratchy
feeling surface. On a wood board, cutting raises the cut grain, and
the raised/severed fibers are knocked, rubbed, flecked, or washed off,
leaving the clean groove behind with nothing to hold the bacteria.

I willingly admit that in practical application the difference in the
two may not amount to a fart in a tornado, but no one likes facts like
this group.

I personally like the wooden cutting boards as their bulk an weight
make them better suited to my cutting style, and while it may be my
imagination, it seems my knives stay sharper longer on the wood
boards.

Robert

I remember reading some of those studies years ago. University of
Wisconsin comes to mind, but memory may have faded.

Conclusion was that while all cutting boards can have bacteria after
use, the manmade materials would continue to allow bacteria growth,
while something about wood inhibits the growth and time would take
care of any residual critters.

Frank