The discussion of which is safest to use in the kitchen, be it glass, plastic, silicon, steel, or wood, is apparently a very contested subject. Mainstream anti-bacterial teaching holds that plastic is safer than wood, that steel is safer than plastic, and wood is put at the bottom of the safety pile.
Government foodsafe guidelines have either informed the knowledge of woodworkers out there, or their lack of anti-bacterial knowledge around their favourite crafting material has informed governments.
The currently promoted misinformation around the safety of wood in the kitchen is best shown in the discussion, or should I say conflict, around oak, whether we're talking red or white oak.
"Some wood species like pine and oak showed excellent antibacterial characteristics, efficiently killed applied bacteria, and had clear hygienic advantages compared to other woods and plastics."
"A growing body of the literature points to the hygroscopicity of wood—its ability to draw water and bacteria from its surface, deep into the wood, where the bacteria are trapped and die—as the wood attempts to even out its moisture content."
"Our findings suggest that a minimal coating of wood with oil delays/prevents the absorption of bacteria into the wood grain and/or protects the bacteria from stresses associated with the wood surface (antimicrobial compounds, rapid desiccation due to hygroscopicity)."
Are we trying to protect the human, or the bacteria?!
While many woodworkers out there will tell you pine should not be in the kitchen, it does perform well when killing a wide range of bacteria. Oak is another that kills many of them as well.
For the full article with study links, click here:
https://naturalhealthgodsway.c....a/2025/03/14/address
