Sanitation

Watch enough food TV and you'll here over and over again about the risk of cross contamination, typically it's recommended that we keep a plastic cutting board just for cutting meat. The reasoning, if we keep meat and produce apart it reduces the risk of illness from food born pathogens.

Having a board that is used for nothing but raw animal protein is not enough without proper sanitation.

I don't like the look or feel of plastic, and have yet to see a plastic butcher block.

Whether you prefer plastic or wood cutting boards, they still need to be sanitized after each use, a plastic cutting board can be sanitized in the dishwasher, if it will fit.

Wooden cutting boards and plastic's which are to big for the dishwasher must be cleaned by hand.

Rinse the board under hot running water, use a dough scrapper or putty knife to remove any meat or other detritus thats stuck to the board. Wash it with mild detergent and hot water, rinse it again then dry it with a clean towel.

Now spray the board with undiluted, distilled vinegar and let it dry.

5% acetic acid (household vinegar), has been shown to kill these bacteria that are commonly the cause food poisoning;

Campylobacter jejuni; raw or under cooked meat, poultry and shellfish.

Escherichia coli 0157:H7; raw or rare ground beef, uncooked fruits and vegetables.

Salmonella; raw or undercooked eggs, poultry, meat, and seafood.

A few thoughts...

Whenever possible, cut fruit and vegetables that are to be served raw before anything else, followed by those that will be cooked and animal products last.

Don't forget to wash the knives used for cutting meat before using them to cut anything else.

If you have the time and means, grind beef, pork, etc... yourself. Commercial grinders are often the cause of bacterial contamination in ground meat.

Staphylococcus infections are transmitted from people-to-food through improper handling. These bug live in your nose, in pimples, on your skin and in infected cuts, Wash Your Hands!

Sprouts; E. coli and salmonella can get into seeds through cracks in the shell before the sprouts are grown. Washing can not get rid of pathogenic E. coli or Salmonella. Even cooking sprouts is not a solution to potential bacterial contamination.