How does the glue of bamboo cutting boards get in the food and how to prevent this

cutting-boardsfood-safetymaintenance

http://food.thefuntimesguide.com/2010/07/bamboo_cutting_board.php

Some bamboo cutting boards are glued together with adhesives that have formaldehyde in them — which could eventually leak into and contaminate food. When buying a bamboo cutting board, make sure that it has a non-toxic label on it in order to avoid this.

Safety of glues in wooden chopping boards

Bamboo and other wood boards from China are probably glued using cheap phenol formaldehyde resin, which is highly toxic until cured. Once cured, you would have to ingest are large amount of it to get sick, or breath the smoke from burning it. Incidentally, it DOES cause immediate pain, and may also cause long term cancer. The amount you would ingest from a cutting board would be insignificant, if at all, and the toxins do not bio-accumulate

The bamboo cutting board I have seems to have 3 layers of wood. The thickness is around 1.2 cms.

What is about "curing"? How does that help in reducing the impact of the glue?

I wanted to understand that how does the glue get in the food in this case and what can be done to prevent or minimize this from happening?

Best Answer

While it is impossible to prove a negative, I am unable to locate any credible evidence that there is actual danger from glue in bamboo cutting boards.

Consider that even if (and this seems unlikely) there were formaldehyde in the glue in a cutting board that in order to pose a danger it would have to:

  • Not be bound permanently or chemically modified as the glue cures,
  • somehow diffuse through the bamboo to the surface,
  • transfer into the food in the brief time the food is in contact with the board, and
  • do so in sufficient quantities as to cause harm.

I would not worry about this in the slightest.

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