# Why are you supposed to use a different cutting board for different meats? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 8, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155 "2009-06-08T22:46:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155/21 "2009-06-09T21:49:04Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > All muscle has bacteria in it, including your own. Fruits and vegetables are, generally, free of germs. Not the case any more, thanks to our current farming practices. Recall that several people died and an entire restaurant chain collapsed thanks to contaminated green onions, tomatoes went missing from commercial kitchens for a while, and spinach has also been a vector of serious disease across the country. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155/22 "2009-06-09T22:46:44Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Something wrong with your dishwasher? Space issues - there’s no room in the kitchen for my husband at the sink while I’m doing the cooking. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155/23 "2009-06-10T00:03:44Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > All muscle has bacteria in it, including your own. That’s absolutely incorrect. The interior of intact muscle tissue should be completely germ-free. Trichinosis is an exception, because the parasite forms little cysts within muscles. Meat _surfaces_ usually carry germs from various sources, like the intestines of the animal or whatever surfaces its come in contact with. Ground meats are basically nearly all surface, so the germs get everywhere, so you have to cook them thoroughly. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155/24 "2009-06-10T00:37:22Z")
I like wooden cooking boards. A long time ago when I was young I worked at a restaurant and the chef used a large, thick chopping block that was regularly cleaned by shaving off a little of the top layer with a scraper and washing with bleach water. Don’t know what butchers do now. The surface of meat is where the concern for bacterial contamination should be focused. Any ground meat is made of multiple unknown number of smaller pieces that were combined together and I assume it is contaminated thoughout and must be cooked well. I remember when it was no big deal to have a hamburger pink and juicy inside, but we are not always cooking just for ourselves and I am no longer willing to gamble. A steak that it cooked on the outside but rare on the inside is fine with me. The surface has been cooked and any contamination should have been killed. Same for pork, although I do cook it a little longer. Chicken however, is some nasty stuff and must always be assumed to be contaminated. Washing it doesn’t help and may even spread the germs. If I cut up a chicken or other poultry, the cutting board gets the bleach treatment. See cite below. [http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/food-safety/chicken-safety/chicken-safety-1-07/overview/0107\_chick\_ov.htm](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/food-safety/chicken-safety/chicken-safety-1-07/overview/0107_chick_ov.htm) ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155/25 "2009-06-10T02:32:42Z")
re: veggies only recently being vectors of foodborne illness: > [@tumbleddown](#): > > Not the case any more, thanks to our current farming practices. Recall that several people died and an entire restaurant chain collapsed thanks to contaminated green onions, tomatoes went missing from commercial kitchens for a while, and spinach has also been a vector of serious disease across the country. What new farming techniques supposedly make veggies less safe? I don’t think they have ever been sterile or free from harmful germs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-you-supposed-to-use-a-different-cutting-board-for-different-meats/499155.md?page=1)