Some laboratory experiments on various meat preparation surfaces with regard to surface contamination and cleaning

Abstract

Laboratory experiments have been carried out to determine the bacterial plate counts on various meat preparation surfaces both before and after cleaning. The surfaces tested included wood, five proprietary cutting boards and formica. Experiments on both unused and scored surfaces showed that plate counts from wood were always greater than those from all the other boards tested indicating that the latter can be cleaned more efficiently, Tests were made to determine the incidence of salmonellae on wooden surfaces in frequent contact with raw meat. Ten (4.3%) of 235 samples of wood scrapings were found to contain salmonellae. These results confirm that wooden surfaces can be reservoirs and distributors of salmonellae.

Survival of bacteria on wood and plastic particles: Dependence on wood species and environmental conditions

“…Furthermore, it was concluded that pine revealed a better hygienic performance than spruce after testing both wood species in a second set of experiments (Koch et al 2002). Earlier research repeatedly demonstrated that more micro-organisms were present on wooden boards compared to metal or plastic surfaces after contact with food products (Kelch and Palm 1958;Gilbert and Watson 1971;Kampelmacher et al 1971;Borneff et al 1988a,b).…”

“…On the one hand, contamination experiments showed that plate counts from wood were greater than those from all the boards made of plastics or metal tested (Kelch and Palm 1958;Rö del et al 1994). Furthermore, also after different cleaning procedures, high rates of bacteria were recovered from the wooden surfaces, indicating that those surfaces could not be decontaminated efficiently (Gilbert and Watson 1971;Kampelmacher et al 1971;Borneff et al 1988a,b;Abrishami et al 1994;Rö del et al 1994). On the other hand, the results published by Ak et al (1994a,b) indicated that wood is safer in contact with foodstuffs than plastics.…”

Pine heartwood and glass surfaces: easy method to test the fate of bacterial contamination

“…The most common methods used in similar studies are a contact plate method (Ak. et al 1994 a, b;Park and Cliver 1996;Gough and Dodd 1998;Schönwälder et al 2002;Koch et al 2002;Milling et al 2005b;Boursillon and Riethmüller 2007) where agar medium is pressed directly onto the test surface and a swab method (Gilbert and Watson 1971;Park and Cliver 1996;Miller et al 1996;Welker et al 1996;Koch et al 2002) where the test surface is swept with a swab or a sponge, and the bacterial count from the swab is then studied. Vortexing was chosen in the current study to avoid the possible effect of adherence.…”

“…Several researchers have found wood more difficult to clean than plastic boards and therefore a more hygienically unfavorable material (Gilbert and Watson 1971;Abrishami et al 1994;Gough and Dodd 1998). On the other hand, there are several studies suggesting that wood has antibacterial properties against Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella serotype Typhimurium (Ak et.…”

Evidence on the Effects of Mandatory Disclaimers in Advertising

“…The belief was based on a study that involved the cultivation of scrapings from wooden working surfaces taken from 211 butchers' shops and 24 restaurants in London. The researchers found that 4% of the cultivated samples contained salmonellae (Gilbert and Watson 1971). Government inspectors vigorously enforced the rule causing much disruption and upset.…”