Reasons Why Cutting Boards Become Unhygienic

March 28, 2018

Cutting boards provide the surfaces in commercial kitchens with protection against the knife marks and scratches that can happen with daily chopping, slicing and dicing of various foods. As long as you take care of these boards, they will also provide you with sanitary work surfaces. Problems can arise with these kitchen tools, though, when you let them become unhygienic to use. The reasons for this happening are in the following details.

Cross-Contamination

When you allow the kitchen staff to reuse cutting boards that have had raw meat on them with vegetables or cooked foods of any type, you cross-contaminate the two latter types of food. You can spread bacteria such as E. coli and/or salmonella by practicing this level of unhygienic food handling. To prevent this issue, you can purchase different colours of cutting boards and specify a type of food for each colour. As a result, the kitchen crew knows which boards to use for vegetables, raw meats, and fruits and so on to prevent spreading bacteria from one food to the next.

Improper Cleaning Methods

Another reason for cutting boards to become unhygienic for use is improper cleaning methods. If you have a dishwasher, polyethylene cutting boards will sanitise easily in them. Other types of boards may require other cleaning methods depending upon the materials that they are made out of such as oak or bamboo. When you do not have a dishwasher, you can soak all types of boards in a mild solution of bleach once you remove the food debris from them to sanitize them for hygienic use.

Knife Grooves Where Bacteria Can Hide

Over time, cutting boards will develop knife grooves some of which can be quite deep. The problem with these grooves is the fact that they can harbour bacteria, even after you sanitise them in the proper manner. Today, there are ways to refurbish the boards through resurfacing them. This process removes the grooves, unless the boards are beyond help, to extend their lifespan. When you turn to this process for help, it may delay you purchasing new cutting boards unless you absolutely have to do it.

While Cutting Boards Services cannot help you with the first two reasons for cutting boards becoming unhygienic, we can assist you with the last one on the list. We provide a mobile reconditioning service that comes to your establishment to return your old scratched, discoloured, unsanitary cutting boards to a suitable condition for hygienic use. In the event that your boards are beyond our help, we also sell high-quality polyethylene ones in a variety of colours, thicknesses and sizes.

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