Wood or plastic chopping board?

A wooden chopping board is porous and a plastic one isn’t so you would be forgiven for assuming that plastic is better as nothing is absorbed.

However despite plastic chopping boards looking cleaner and easier to keep clean, the small scars from daily use are a breeding hot spot for bacteria. They can quickly multiply if not cleaned properly and leave behind harmful toxins. The tiny scars in plastic make it near impossible to clean properly meaning they will hold onto bacteria. A plastic board a few months old can have thousands of scars

In a wooden choppoing board moisture is drawn into the centre of the board where bacteria dies and can’t multiply. In a test where food was cut on wooden chopping boards then not washed, the wooden boards were free of bacteria the next day and the bacteria thrived on plastic boards. Wood does have natural antibacterial properties simply through its capillary action that wicks away moisture from the surface.

Once a plastic chopping board has reached the end of its useful life it will still exist for over a thousand more years. A wood chopping board will totally decompose in a few years