COLOURED CHOPPING BOARDS: A 2-MINUTE GUIDE
Coloured Chopping Boards: A 2-Minute Guide
If you’ve ever thought there could be a reason why coloured chopping boards exist, you’re absolutely right! Coloured chopping boards are essential to maintaining sanitation in the kitchen, especially in professional environments. But why are there different cutting board colours? And what do they mean? In this blog, we will answer these questions and explain reasons why you shouldn’t use just a single cutting board for every ingredient you prepare.
Why are there so many different coloured chopping boards?
The primary purpose of using an array of cutting board colours in the kitchen is to eliminate cross-contamination and prevent avoidable allergic reactions. Certain foodstuffs are categorised as common allergens, and others harbour harmful bacteria when raw. The reason why different coloured chopping boards exist is so that risky foods can be separated and eliminate the chances of illness and allergies. Essentially, using multiple food safety chopping boards help to protect those who consume your food.
The bold and vastly different colours used for food safety cutting boards aim to create unmistakable distinctions that make it easy to remember which cutting board colours represent what food type at a glance. But what do the different colours actually represent?
What do coloured chopping boards represent?
Although it is not a legal requirement to assign certain colours to particular foods, the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) suggests a standard colour-coding system that is widely used in the food preparation industry, in line with the Food Safety Act of 1990.
Yellow
Yellow-coloured chopping boards are most commonly used for cooked meats. This includes beef, pork, poultry, and other non-oceanic animal produce. Cooked meats and raw meat must be prepared on separate chopping boards, as there are far more bacteria in uncooked meat that may cause cross-contamination. Salmonella poisoning is always a risk with raw chicken and the bacteria that causes it can live on dry surfaces for up to four hours. So if you prepare raw chicken and other cooked meats on the same board, you could risk causing preventable illnesses.
Red
Red chopping boards are usually designated for raw meat. Raw meat can contain E-coli and salmonella (as previously mentioned). So it is vital to keep it away from other types of food. Red chopping boards should be thoroughly disinfected after use and washed with boiling water to kill all present bacteria that may breed and even contaminate the raw meat you prepare in the future.
Blue
Blue chopping boards are for preparing fish. Compared to other types of meat, the frequency of allergies to fish is very common. For this reason, it is vital to ensure fish is prepared separately from other foodstuffs to avoid cross-contamination and accidental allergic reactions.
Brown
Brown chopping boards are most often used to cut unwashed root vegetables. Because root vegetables are harvested from the soil: the chances of dirt transferring to your chopping board are high. Assigning your root vegetables to a single brown chopping board will eliminate the chances of dirt getting into your other ingredients.
White
White chopping boards are used primarily for bread, pastries and dairy products that may cause allergic reactions to the wheat and milk content.
Purple
Purple chopping boards are a relatively new addition to the coloured chopping boards roster. They’re most commonly used to prepare allergenic ingredients such as eggs, peanuts, mustard, milk and celery, which can’t be combined with other food stuffs. Some professional kitchens have begun using purple rather than white chopping boards for dairy products and reserving their white chopping boards for bread alone.
Coloured chopping boards at Plastic Chopping Boards
Here at plastic chopping boards, we understand the importance of sanitation in the kitchen. This is why we offer variously sized chopping boards in each of the aforementioned colours to keep your kitchen safe. Due to the popularity of purple chopping boards only just starting to take off, the only way to get your hands on one is to visit our bespoke chopping boards page! We can manufacture your purple chopping board in any size, shape, thickness or colour you want. All you need to do is ask for a quote!
