Are plastic cutting boards safe?

In daily life, cutting boards are made of both wood and plastic. Plastic cutting boards are more beautiful in appearance and lighter in weight than traditional cutting boards. They are a type of cutting board that many people like. Plastic cutting boards are generally made of polyethylene and a variety of chemical ingredients. Long-term use for cutting vegetables can easily lead to lead poisoning, which poses a great safety risk to the body.

Is plastic cutting board good?

Plastic cutting boards are mostly made of chemicals such as polypropylene and polyethylene. They are not suitable for cutting greasy foods and are difficult to clean. Plastic cutting boards are not resistant to high temperatures. If hot food is cut on them, they can easily become deformed. Some cutting boards even contain plasticizers such as lead and cadmium, which can cause cancer if used for a long time. Rough-textured plastic cutting boards can easily break into pieces, which can enter the body with food and cause damage to the liver and kidneys. Many people's kitchen cutting boards are hidden in unventilated cupboards, which further harms human health.

Advantages and disadvantages of plastic cutting boards

1. Advantages of plastic cutting boards

1. High strength, solid and durable: For example, a chopping board used for chopping ribs should be 30-60mm thick for household use. Assuming that you eat ribs twice a week, such a chopping board can be used for more than 15 years. There is also less chipping when using it.

2. More environmentally friendly: Compared with natural materials such as bamboo and wood, plastic cutting boards are more environmentally friendly. Taking the wooden chopping block for chopping ribs (about 450mm in diameter) as an example, each piece of this wooden block needs to be taken from a tree that is 30-50 years old. The contribution of trees to the earth is self-evident, and it is a pity to use them as kitchen chopping boards.

3. Good antibacterial effect: Another major advantage of plastic cutting boards is that they are antibacterial. Compared with natural materials, they have antibacterial properties. And because they are hard, not easy to be scratched, and have no gaps, they are least likely to breed bacteria. At the same time, they are also easy to clean. They can be washed with boiling water or detergent, and there is no residue left after rinsing. At the same time, it is also dishwasher safe.

4. Beautiful appearance and rich colors: PE cutting boards are available in a variety of colors and are very easy to distinguish. There are as many as 6 common colors of cutting boards in hotels (at the same time, each cutting board is equipped with a dedicated knife, the color of the knife handle is consistent with the corresponding cutting board, for easy identification). The purpose of each color is generally: red cutting boards are used for raw meat; brown cutting boards are used for cooked meat; white cutting boards are used for dairy products; blue cutting boards are used for seafood; green cutting boards are used for fruits and vegetables; yellow cutting boards are used for poultry.

Second, the disadvantages of plastic cutting boards

1. Plastic cutting boards are not resistant to high temperatures and are easily deformed.

2. Plastic cutting boards with rough texture can easily cut into plastic fragments, which can be harmful to the human body.

Are plastic cutting boards toxic?

So what exactly is the "residue" that "evaporates"? The explanation provided by experts is: "acetic acid, ethanol and n-hexane." These testing indicators are all designed to assess the chemical substances that may be released from plastic products and the amount of chemical substances released when they come into contact with water, vinegar, wine, oil and other kitchen cooking condiments. Because the more of these chemicals that are released, the greater the possibility of food contamination. The test found that the acetic acid content of some products exceeded the standard by 3.3 to 16.5 times, and the n-hexane content of some products exceeded the standard by 1.7 to 6.1 times.

The main components of plastic cutting boards are polyethylene or polypropylene, and there are strict safety index regulations and requirements when using these materials. The problem is that some manufacturers, in order to increase the hardness of plastic cutting boards, which is what housewives often call "durable" and "cut-resistant", often add excessive amounts of calcium carbonate, talcum powder and other fillers, and even mix in recycled raw materials to reduce production costs, which may cause chemical precipitation.

As long as the materials and input of plastic cutting boards are strictly controlled, they will not be "toxic and harmful". Consumers can also master some tips when purchasing, such as checking whether the color is uniform; smelling whether the smell is pungent or abnormal; touching the product to see if it is

Check whether there is any powder on your hands (powder will appear if talcum powder and calcium carbonate are added in excess of the standard). In addition, you should try not to cut overscalding or overheated food when using it, because high temperature will also accelerate the production or decomposition of harmful substances.

People have always known that plastic has certain hazards, so the focus on plastic cutting boards has always been relatively high. I believe that after reading the above article, everyone has their own answer to whether plastic cutting boards are good or not.