It’s natural to assume that plastic would not harbor as much bacteria compared with wooden cutting boards if you ask a normal person, but guess what, that’s not true.

Plastic Cutting Boards

Plastic is synthetic and nonporous, which means bacteria can’t get into the plastic, and also that it’s not something that bacteria can thrive off of. When cleaned thoroughly with hot water and soap, it’s basically void of bacteria.

Wooden Cutting Boards

Wood, on the other hand is organic and porous. It’s natural to assume that it’s a good material for harboring bacteria.

Then Why are Wooden Cutting Boards Better?

Because wooden cutting boards are porous by nature, after properly cleaning the surface with soap and hot water, any leftover bacteria is absorbed into the cutting board within several minutes. As long as the surface is clean, who cares that you’re cutting on top of something that harbors bacteria?

Plastic cutting boards on the other hand, are hard to clean when there are grooves made by cutting. Within each of these grooves, bacteria can thrive and get on your salad, fruits, or vegetables if you previously placed raw meat on your board.

For more technical details, take a look at a research done on this topic here: “Cutting Boards of Plastic and Wood Contaminated Experimentally with Bacteria”.