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  1. #1
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    May 1999
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    Default WOOD KILLS BACTERIA

    This is something that all woodworkers should read. I have been trying to get a copy of this article for over 6 years, since I first heard about it. Finally here it is. Thanks to Judy & John Wheeler.

    THE AGE THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY 1993 reprinted from New York Times


    TIMBER CUTTING BOARDS HAVE THE WOOD ON PLASTIC
    EVERY now and then a scientific finding flies in the face of conventional wisdom. And so it was with an accidental discovery By microbiologists at an American university that wooden cutting boards kill food-poisoning bacteria that survive very nicely on the plastic boards that have been widely promoted for years as safer than wood.

    Scientists from the University of Wisconsin’s Food Research Institute stumbled upon the finding while seeking ways to decontaminate wooden boards and make them as “safe” as plastic.

    Much to their surprise, they found that when boards were purposely contaminated with organisms such as salmonella, listeria and Escherichia coli that are common causes of food poisoning, 99.9 per cent of the bacteria died off within three minutes on the wooden boards, while none died on the plastic ones.

    When contaminated boards were left unwashed overnight at room temperature, bacterial counts increased on the plastic, but none of the organisms could be recovered from the wooden boards the next morning.

    It had long been believed that disease-causing bacteria from raw foods such as chicken would soak into a wooden board and be difficult to remove, even when washed; then when . other foods, such as salad ingredients that are eaten raw, are cut on the same board, the dangerous bacteria could be picked up by them and transferred alive to the consumer. Plastic was assumed to be safer because it is nonporous and contaminating organisms could be readily washed off.

    Based on the new studies, scientist Dr Dean Cliver said: “Wood may be preferable in that small lapses in sanitary practices are not as dangerous on wood as on plastic.”

    But he cautioned against being “sloppy about safety” and warned cooks to be sure to wash off cutting surfaces after cutting meat, chicken or, fish, whether the surface used is wood - or plastic

    The researchers tested boards made from seven different species of trees and four types of plastic and found similar results: wood was safer than plastic, regardless of the materials used.

    Thus far, however, the researchers have been unable to isolate the agents in wood that make it so inhospitable to Bacteria.
    ---------------------------------------------

    This amazing piece of woodworkers propaganda should be committed to the memory of all woodies especially those who make bread & chopping boards and woodturners who make salad bowls etc.

    Think of the implications of using polyurethane on a salad bowl. It is a plastic finish. Will it allow the nasties to grow unchecked like the plastic cutting boards? Should the inside of this sort of bowl be left raw with no finish at all? Will the addition of such things as oil finishes to the surface kill the part of the timber that actually eliminates the bacteria?


    For the past 20 odd years I have maintained that the insides of bowls and bread boards etc, that come into contact with raw and wet foods be left unfinished. We have been using raw timber chopping boards for well over 20 years with no ill effects, people have been eating and serving food from raw wooden bowls and platters for centuries. So long as they are kept clean it would appear that there should not be a health hazard.

    This should give many of you something to think about, and probably should be shouted from the tops of the highest buildings. Another great plus for wood.

    I hope this rather long post stimulates some interest.

    Cheers
    Neil





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  3. #2
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    Jun 1999
    Location
    Adelaide, South Australia
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    Default

    Yeh, I've been sprooking off about this for at least 2 years. I came across the same information back then, periodic (mis)information on the tv and in the newspapers has prompted me to pass the information on to the papers and to Dr Graham Rouch who is the health authority spokesperson in Melbourne (they have a website). But his eventual response led me to believe he didn't actually read it as his reply didn't make sense in relation to the text I sent. What would be nice is if the authorities here did they're own study do get things settled properly, especially with all the talk of HUS etc. Another part of the info I read, if I remember correctly said that a survey of wood and non wood chopping board families showed a far greater rate of stomach "wogs" for the non wood people. Good stuff eh? See ya, Rod

    ------------------


  4. #3
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    May 1999
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    Tooradin,Victoria,Australia
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    Default

    Gooday all.

    Thought these links might prove interesting reading as well. Be warned, they are long.

    They are also the other side of the debate and should be read

    www.sciencenews.org/Sn_arch/9_14_96/Bob2.htm

    www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc97/7_12_97/Food.htm

    ------------------
    Ian () Robertson
    "We do good turns every day"






    [This message has been edited by (edited 14 November 1999).]

    [This message has been edited by (edited 14 November 1999).]

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 1999
    Location
    Glen Iris, Vic, Australia
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    2,196

    Default

    As a recent woodworking convert, I found this article enlightening and encouraging. However, being a pessimist I must ask a few more detailed questions. What wood was used in the research ? Is hard or soft wood better ? Was the wood treated with any type of chemicals before, during, or after the bacteria was applied ? How many subjects were involved in the experiment ?

    ------------------
    Thanks,
    Barry G. Sumpter


    Thanks,
    Barry G. Sumpter
    May Yesterdays Tears Quench the Thirst for Tomorrows Revenge

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 1999
    Location
    Perth, WA, Australia
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Barry,
    There you go, I was almost completely taken in by this good story and you come along and put a damper on it with facts, or the request for them.

    Now, if Rod Smith believes it, it must be true!
    I'm sure the sample was a substantial representation of a true cross-section of the potential cutting-board & knife weilding public, and that a large selection of various type woods were chosen for sampling.

    What forgot to tell you, though, was it was a mixture of Jarrah & Tingle that performed the best, so you non West-"ern" Australians will just have to miss out.
    Regards
    Len Rose
    Len Rose

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    whyalla south australia
    Posts
    31

    Default wood kills bacteria

    To me the bottom line is cleanliness
    my wife has for over forty years used wooden cutting/chopping boards in the kitkcen and we have survived.
    She even tried to use the flash marble ones
    but they were so heavy we could not keep an edge on a knife
    Now use an 'old fashioned bread board and serrated edge bone handled bread knife' and bone handled knives that we have bought at 'Odd Shops over the years.
    Rond

  8. #7
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    Default

    Oooer, Neil! And you call us stirrers!
    I may be weird, but I'm saving up to become eccentric.

    - Andy Mc

  9. #8
    Join Date
    May 2003
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    Default

    Wood kills bacteria huh, great! I've got a nasty infection, what sort of wood should I take, and how often?

    Mick
    "If you need a machine today and don't buy it,

    tomorrow you will have paid for it and not have it."

    - Henry Ford 1938

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
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    Australia and France
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    Default

    A seven year old thread!

    Is this the new record?

    FWIW, we throw our timber cutting boards in the dishwasher, and to heck with the consequences. So far there have been none.

    P

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
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    NSW
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    Default

    Makes good sense, never seen a plastic butchers block.


    HJ0

  12. #11
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    Apr 2004
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    Canberra
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by HJ0
    Makes good sense, never seen a plastic butchers block.


    HJ0
    Afraid not, all butchers have been required to change to plastic ones in NSW and the ACT by order of the health department. Now that there has been a bit more research put into the wood theory the health authorities will not change back thanks to legal liability issues, after all if the standard was altered to be less safe........

    I am not sure that the resurrection of a 7 year old thread is a record, there is another that I remember that is about the same span, something relating to restoring a singer sewing machine.

  13. #12
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    Gorokan Central Coast NSW
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    Default

    For years whenever someone has asked about a finish for chopping boards I always reply NONE, and usually get howled down with use "this" or use "that".

  14. #13
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    Sep 2002
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    Minbun, FNQ, Australia
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bitingmidge
    A seven year old thread!

    Is this the new record?
    ....
    Nah, went & found the oldest thread on the board, posted to it & then closed it so no body else could just so he has the record.
    Cliff.
    If you find a post of mine that is missing a pic that you'd like to see, let me know & I'll see if I can find a copy.

  15. #14
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    Apr 2004
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    Default

    For the latest information I just dug this one out, it is the abstract of a review by the author of the study that neil quoted.

    J AOAC Int. 2006 Mar-Apr;89(2):538-42.

    Cutting boards in Salmonella cross-contamination.

    Cliver DO.

    University of California, School of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Population Health and Reproduction, Davis, CA 95616-8743, USA. [email protected]

    Cutting boards are commonly perceived as important fomites in cross-contamination of foods with agents such as Salmonella spp., despite the lack of supporting epidemiological data. A variety of woods and plastics have been used to make work surfaces for cutting. In general, wood is said to dull knives less than plastic, and plastic is seen as less porous than wood. Research to model the hypothetical cross-contamination has been done in a variety of ways and has yielded a variety of results. At least some of the work with knife-scarred plastic indicates that the surface is very difficult to clean and disinfect, although this may vary among the polymers used. High-density polyethylene, which is most used in commercial applications, has been shown to delaminate in response to knife scarring. Wood is intrinsically porous, which allows food juices and bacteria to enter the body of the wood unless a highly hydrophobic residue covers the surface. The moisture is drawn in by capillary action until there is no more free fluid on the surface, at which point immigration ceases. Bacteria in the wood pores are not killed instantly, but neither do they return to the surface. Destructive sampling reveals infectious bacteria for hours, but resurrection of these bacteria via knife edges has not been demonstrated. Small plastic cutting boards can be cleaned in a dishwasher (as can some specially treated wooden boards), but the dishwasher may distribute the bacteria onto other food-contact surfaces. Most small wooden boards (i.e., those with no metal joiners in them) can be sterilized in a microwave oven, but this should be unnecessary if accumulation of food residues is prevented. However, 2 epidemiological studies seem to show that cutting board cleaning habits have little influence on the incidence of sporadic salmonellosis. Further, one of these studies indicated that use of plastic cutting boards in home kitchens is hazardous, whereas use of wooden cutting boards is not.

  16. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
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    Hell with fluro lighting
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    Default

    I guess if you hit anything lining hard enough with a plank of wood you will kill it
    I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

    My Other Toys

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