hmm, I think some of your ratings might be very misleading. One of the ideas behind plasticlist was looking at things like plastic packaging leaching into the product itself, which wouldn't be in the ingredients list.

For example, you list Fairlife Core Power Chocolate Protein Shake as 100/100 but it is on the plasticlist report as containing levels of DEHP and DEHT, likely coming from the packaging. Not sure what an accurate rating would be, but not 100 for sure.

Maybe it works for non-food items better, but for food it might be counterproductive.

Plastic cutting boards are mostly just plain undyed polyethylene (HDPE)- which is just a fully saturated perfectly straight hydrocarbon, similar to saturated fat or wax and lacks the kind of reactive functional groups that make other plastic polymers toxic. I think it is quite unlikely that HDPE in particular is toxic or endocrine disrupting to humans in the way a lot of other plastics seem to be.

It's also basically just a very viscous fluid and I suspect would flow into grooves when a knife blade hits it, without releasing particles like harder more solid plastics would.

Personally, I try to avoid having most plastics contact my food and water, but make an exception for HDPE.

In general, each plastic polymer is very different from another chemically, and it makes sense to consider their safety independently, and not group all plastics together.

IIRC it’s because plastic cutting boards can be put into a sanitizing dishwasher with reliable minimum-effort sanitary outcomes, whereas wood cutting boards require more rigorous care to remain sanitary and so the US generally bans their use rather than allowing rigor as an option. In the US, rigor is historically something one can trust food producers to sacrifice first in favor of turnaround time, profits, etc. so it does make sense that they’ve just given up and disallowed it. For possible exceptions, look into bamboo cookware and/or sushi preparation?

Well, for one, they're not. "Apparently" in their post implies that they are, but instead signals that they haven't done any actual research. For instance, hard wood cutting boards are permissible for use in Wisconsin: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/atcp/055/75...

The USDA also recommends wooden cutting boards be used so long as they are properly washed and sanitized before and after use: https://www.fsis.usda.gov/food-safety/safe-food-handling-and...

The main issues with using wood are 1) that generally you don't want to put them in a dishwasher, 2) it's trickier to track cross-contamination as you might with color-coded boards, and 3) they're much more expensive than plastic.

> Although very beautiful and functional, they require proper sanitation and careful maintenance. Being, in fact, the wood is a living and porous material, it is not advisable to sanitize the cutting board daily, as this could risk the proliferation of germs and bacteria.

https://www.euroceppi.com/en/blog-en/why-cant-wooden-cutting...

Makes sense to me, I never process meat at home on a wooden board. Only plastic and dishwasher after use.

An excellent point. Most modern germ theory says all bacteria is bad. This, despite the fact that our guts are full of bacteria and that you simply cannot avoid ingesting bacteria. Nevermind that plenty of wood cutting boards are full of beneficial bacteria that keeps listeria and e. coli at bay.

Edit: Also there are literally some forms of cheese that you cannot make in sanitized stainless steel. The combination of bacteria you need needs to be impregnated in the wood.

It’s interesting that, if you go to a wet market in many Asian countries (e.g. Hong Kong) you will see the butchers cutting meat on wooden chopping blocks where the cutting surface is _grain up_ - typically a circular section of a log. I thought “surely this is the worst possible orientation for the wood?” I think they clean the blocks by using hot and cold water to expand and contract the wood, and scraping it with the blade of their knives.

Seems like it would be simply enough for a household to just have at least two cutting boards:

One for anything which is not likely to harbor dangerous bacteria. (eg: vegetables, bread, etc.)

One of meat, which gets cut and then gets cooked, and so theoretically a bit of bacteria is no issue in any case.

I can see how this would be much tougher for a commercial kitchen, though.

Wood is porous and unable to be fully sanitized, as well as absorbing and giving back off everything from soaps and sanitizers to food flavors. Example: chop a few onions on a wood cutting board. Clean and dry. Then the next day wet your cutting board and give it a sniff. The onion is still there.

It also has trouble with repeated washing cycles as a material.

There's some evidence that biologically, wood fibers will dessicate and shred bacterias, and there's the historical anecdotal evidence of wood cutting boards having been used throughout history, but those anecdotes aren't enough for commercial kitchen operation where food needs to be able to be given to all comers, including infirm, allergic or immunocompromised.

Food safety. It's ironic that in a home setting they can often be better than plastic (people typically don't clean plastic well enough, or replace often enough), but you can't sanitize them like you typically would in a commercial prep area, so they are disallowed/discouraged (based on jurisdiction).

An argument that I’ve heard is that wooden boards can get more infected with bacterial colonies if not washed and maintained properly. I’m not sure how actually true this is though.

if I'm paying for coffee at a coffee shop and they don't have a ceramic mug, i cancel my order. I'd rather drink wine out of a solo cup