People are only just realising what the mystery 'clock' symbol on a chopping board means
People are opening up about how often they change their plastic chopping boards after discovering they actually have an expiry date - with one cook claiming to have stuck with theirs for a 'lifetime'
They're an everyday item in most households - but not many people realise plastic chopping boards have an expiry date. For those who use plastic chopping boards, no matter the colour, you may have noticed a small clock-looking symbol in one of the corners.
But you might never have examined it long enough to understand the information it provides. It is said to reveal when the chopping board was made - and helps you work out when it is no longer safe to use. However, the symbol is not straightforward to understand. When viewing it, you'll notice the 'year' in the middle - as example by '21' in this picture below.
Then, you'll see an arrow pointing to a month, with this one showing '10'. From this, we can determine the chopping board was made in October 2021. According to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), chopping boards should last between one and five years, depending on use. The agency says they should no longer be used when they become difficult to clean, very worn, or have grooves.
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A statement on The Spruce Eats reads: " Although all cutting boards can harbour germs, plastic ones are better than their wooden counterparts because they are nonporous. That makes them especially safer to use with raw meat. For even better hygiene, you should have separate cutting boards for different foods in your kitchen.
"The USDA suggests using one for fresh produce and bread and a different one for raw meat, poultry, and seafood. That can help prevent bacteria from raw meat getting spread to food that doesn’t need to be cooked. Buying different coloured boards can help you remember which is which, like using a green one for veggies and a red one for meat.
" Good cleaning can help extend the life of plastic cutting boards, but you still need to replace them regularly. Jessica Ek, spokesperson for the American Cleaning Institute, says plastic cutting boards should last at least a year, and maybe up to five years, depending on how often you use them."
Commenting on how often they change their chopping boards, one cook on Reddit said: "If you're cleaning it properly (dishwasher after use), unless it's beaten up there's no reason to replace it." Another added: "Real wood? Mine last 5-10 years. Plastic? A lifetime." A third said: "We have a 30-year-old cutting board nobody maintains. Aside from a little dishing and some burn marks, it's still going strong. We use it for everything from cleaving whole chickens to cutting mint leaves."
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