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Back in October of 2007, I wrote an article here entitled Food Safe Wood for Cutting Boards in which I said that I think all the concern over which woods are food-safe is overkill. I referenced there a study done by Doctors Cliver and Ak of the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This study was, according to Dr. Cliver, conducted after the U. S. Department of Agriculture told him that they had no scientific evidence to support their position that plastic cutting boards should be favored for home kitchen use.

I thought I had said all I have to say on that topic, but this week my daughter read me an excerpt from a book she had borrowed from the library. The book is entitled Green Housekeeping and was written by Ellen Sandbeck. On pages 118 and 119, Ms. Sandbeck recounts the Clive and Ak study in a much clearer way than the version of the information to which I had earlier linked. Consequently, I thought I’d mention the book here so that people searching for information on food-safe woods can find it more easily. Google has scanned this work, and you can see the referenced pages here.

As it turns out, other sites also reference the study. One such site is that of cutting board maker, BW WoodWorks®. There are a number of others as a quick search on “Cliver and Ak” will attest.

Given the apparent lack of any scientific evidence to the contrary, coupled with the experiential evidence of cutting board users themselves, it appears that wood is the way to go. One important question that always arises is, “which species of wood is safest?” The study tested at least seven species and found very similar results.

As I said in my earlier article on the subject, “I am certainly not an expert in biology, nor am I a doctor or anything remotely connected to those professions. I am simply still living and healthy after showing no concern about my wooden cutting boards.”

Please; go and read this information for yourself. I’ll be using wood.