HOW often do you clean your cutting board after using it? Well, according to one whizz, people should do it far more often – and there's a grim reason behind it.
We get it – sometimes it may be tempting to just rinse your chopping board with some water and call it a day. But although it may save you time and energy, not cleaning it properly could lead to a number of health-related issues.
According to one cleaning fanatic, Miranda, your chopping board is home to a large number of fecal bacteria – in fact, she claimed that the number is a whopping 200 times more than on a toilet seat.
This, in turn, could even cause food poisoning and other nasty problems down the line.
Luckily, Miranda, from the sunny coasts of California, the USA, has also come to rescue with an easy 5p hack – and all you will need are common cupboard essentials.
To sanitise her wooden cutting board, Miranda revealed in a video shared on TikTok, the savvy cleaning fanatic grabbed a but of sea salt, vinegar, as well as half of a zesty lemon.
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After sprinkling some of the salt onto the board, she poured a little bit of acidic vinegar on top and gave it all a good scrub using the lemon.
According to the whizz, you should be doing this for around five minutes before rinsing the DIY cleaning treatment with water.
All chuffed with the astonishing results, Miranda wrote in the caption: ''Needless to say, I was really grossed out when I found out this fact, so here is an easy way to clean your cutting board.''
To avoid any further health issues, experts have also advised to use a number of cutting boards each for chopping different items, such as meat, veggies and fruit, as well as bread.
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The material, such as wood and plastic, also makes a huge difference – and not everything should be prepared on a wooden board, experts at The Maids warned.
According to UC Davis researcher Dean Cliver, while plastic cutting boards are easier to sanitize than wooden ones, plastic is prone to deeper scratches from knives and can harbor more bacteria.
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In the end, food safety researchers advise using plastic cutting boards for meat and leave wood cutting boards for vegetables, fruits, and prepared foods.
Hundreds of social media users raced to comments to share their thoughts, with one writing: ''That's why I stick to a glass cutting board.''
Someone else shared their tip: ''I use boiling water and no meat to be cut on a wooden board.''
Another reckoned: ''But wood is naturally anti-bacterial… as long as you don't have deep gashes for bacteria to get trapped in.''
''Under naisl too.. especially long ones,'' a viewer warned fellow beauty fanatics.
Speaking of food, experts have revealed that consuming too many ready-made meals could raise risk of three types of cancer by a whopping 25 per cent.
Researchers from the University of Bristol and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have found that eating more UPFs – Ultra Processed Foods – may be associated with a higher risk of developing cancers in the upper aerodigestive tract.
This includes mouth, throat and oesophageal adenocarcinoma – cancer of the oesophagus.
Researchers analysed diet and lifestyle data from 450,111 adults over the course of 14 years.
Published in the European Journal of Nutrition, the study sought to pinpoint whether these cancers could be explained by an increase in body fat in humans.
The team of experts found that eating 10 per cent more UPFs was associated with a 23 per cent higher risk of developing head and neck cancer and a 24 per cent higher risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma.
Fernanda Morales-Berstein, a Wellcome Trust PhD student at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, commented on the findings: “UPFs have been associated with excess weight and increased body fat in several observational studies.
"This makes sense, as they are generally tasty, convenient and cheap, favouring the consumption of large portions and an excessive number of calories.
"However, it was interesting that in our study the link between eating UPFs and upper-aerodigestive tract cancer didn’t seem to be greatly explained by body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio.”
Instead, researchers said that additives, such as emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners, often found in such snacks and meals, could be a behind these foods' heightened disease risk.
Cleaning hacks and tips
Here are some tips to help you clean your home like a pro:
- How to clean your washing machine in a few easy steps
- Keep on top of cleaning your oven regularly
- Clean your shower to ensure it's always sparkling
- How to clean your microwave using cheap household items
- Here's how to get rid of that nasty limescale in your kettle
- You're cleaning your carpet all wrong – here's how to get it spotless again in no time
- Unblock a toilet without a plunger
- Clean your fabric or leather sofa in a few easy steps
- If you haven't cleaned your mattress in ages, here's how
- Steps to cleaning your dishwasher to leave it looking brand new
- This is how to clean mirrors and windows without streaking
- Keep your toilet clean in four easy steps
- Give your TV screen a once-over
- Did you know your Venetian, Roman, vertical, or roller blinds also need cleaning?
- Deep-clean your fridge in five simple steps
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