A health coach has warned everyone about the risks of preparing food on plastic chopping boards.
Craig McCloskey, from the US, shared a video showing the surprising amount of microplastic emerging from a brand new cutting board after using a knife to scrap the surface.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Health coach’s warning about plastic chopping boards.
For more Lifestyle related news and videos check out Lifestyle >>
“Ditch the plastic cutting boards,” he said.
“As you can see it wouldn’t take much cutting for all this plastic to end up in your food.”
He referenced a 2023 study by the North Dakota State University to back up his statement — claiming an average person could ingest up to 10 credit cards worth of plastic in a single year.
“This is a major issue because microplastics have been shown across the blood-brain barrier just two hours after ingestion,” McCloskey claimed.
“Unfortunately once they’re in your body, you can’t really get rid of them.
“So it’s important to minimise your use of plastic in everyday life and start using more ancestral and natural alternatives.”
Wooden chopping boards are said to be the safest surface for the preparation of food due to the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties in the timber.
According to a 2019 Australian research, conducted by the University of Newcastle, people could be consuming approximately five grams of plastic every week, which is the equivalent weight of a credit card.
Professor Andreas Suhrbier, the head of inflammation biology team at The University of Queensland, conducted a study on mice to see whether microplastics made any changes to their internal organs.
Surprisingly, the researchers found viral arthritis was prolonged in mice that had consumed microplastics.
They found plastic in the gut had caused some level of joint inflammation.
In May 2023, a study led by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO found microplastics present in many food products — including meat, chicken, rice, water, takeaway meals, drinks, and even fresh produce.
Dr Jordi Nelis, CSIRO analytical chemist, food safety specialist, said these plastics enter the human food chain through numerous pathways, such as ingestion, but one of the main ways is through food processing and packaging.
“Fresh food for example can be plastic free when it’s picked or caught but contain plastics by the time it’s been handled, packaged and makes its way to us,” Dr Nelis said.“Machinery, cutting boards, plastic wrapping can all deposit micro and nanoplastics onto our food that we then consume.”
For more engaging lifestyle content, visit 7Life on Facebook.
