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It was in Health Class that I first learned about cross-contamination. The film used silly little drawings to represent the germs that stayed on a cutting board after it was used. Those little germs would crawl all over the next vegetable that was chopped. Then the camera followed plates piled high with food covered in nasty little germs to the table. At this point, the film stopped and the narrator's voice asked, "Would you want to eat that?" Then everybody laughed.

But the issue of cross-contamination is a real one. It was probably, so the doctors said, cross-contamination that gave me my first experience with serious food-poisoning. So what is the importance of a clean cutting board? Simply this: if you keep the cutting board clean your porcelain thrones will have less chance of being overtaxed.

Keeping the cutting board clean is truly vital to healthy cooking. Make sure when you clean the cutting board you use good and hot water with anti-bacterial dish soap and a clean scrubber. Scour that cutting board and rinse it well if you need to use it again right away. Otherwise, scrub it well and put it in your dishwasher. Dishwashers use such hot water that things are nicely sterilized when the wash cycle is finished.

Another word of advice on keeping cutting boards clean and avoiding cross-contamination: Designate one board for meat, and don't cut meat on a wood board. In fact, don't even use a wood board unless for bread. Germs and bacteria love to hide in the gouges in wood cutting boards.

So that was really two final words of advice, but all of it good. In the end, remember to keep that cutting board clean so you can stay healthy!

Learn more about this author, Jared Garrett.
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