a c k talk 



Wood vs. Acrylic 



I finished reading Chemical and 

 Engineering News and began reading 

 Coastwatch (Jan./Feb. issue). On page 

 20, Joyce Taylor recommends cutting 

 raw seafood on an acrylic cutting 

 board, never a wooden one. Appar- 

 ently the people at the University of 

 Wisconsin recommend just the 

 opposite. Who's correct? 



H. Edwin Carley, 



Chalfont, PA 



You have raised an excellent 

 question, one we don't have a clear 

 answer for now. For those of you who 

 haven't read about this controversy, 

 University of Wisconsin (UW) 

 researchers have found that bacteria 

 have a greater survival rate on acrylic 

 cutting boards than on wooden ones. 

 This is contrary to what experts have 

 been telling the public. They believed 

 that disease-causing bacteria which 

 soaked into porous wooden surfaces 

 would later contaminate other 

 uncooked foods cut on the surface, 

 such as salad ingredients, if the board 

 was not adequately cleaned. Plastic, 

 they thought, was less hospitable to 

 bacteria. But not so, say UW scien- 

 tists. They claim bacteria disappear 

 quickly from the surface of wooden 

 cutting boards, without sanitizing and 

 for a yet unknown reason . 



David Green, Sea Grant's 

 seafood technology specialist, and 

 Joyce Taylor, Sea Grant's seafood 

 education agent, say they want to hold 

 judgment on the study until more 

 scientific information is published. A 

 paper is being prepared for the 

 Journal of Food Protection that will 

 provide details about how the study 

 was conducted, the conditions of the 

 boards used and other factors, such 

 as temperature. These variables could 

 greatly affect the outcome of the 

 study. Green, for instance, would like 



to know the conditions of the wooden 

 boards. Were they new and smooth? 

 Or were they older boards full of 

 nicks and cuts? Until the paper is 

 published and the study is validated 

 by other researchers, Green and 

 Taylor say home cooks can use either 

 type of board. Green stresses that it is 

 not the type of board used, but how 

 well it is cleaned after cutting meats 

 and seafood that makes the difference. 

 Under commercial conditions, public 

 health regulations require food- 

 contact surfaces be smooth and 

 readily cleanable, a condition which 

 disqualifies wood. Rest assured that 

 Sea Grant's seafood experts will be 

 watching for further information on 

 this controversy and that Coastwatch 

 will offer you that information as soon 

 we can. 



Reply Not 

 Good Enough 



I just received your Jan./Feb. '93 

 issue of Coastwatch. I noticed you 

 decided to respond to my letter by 

 placing it in your letters column and 

 letting your readers decide. 



Your reason stated for not 

 mentioning the Year of the Indian is 

 unacceptable. You fail to realize the 

 significance of the proclamation 

 signed by the president. This honor 

 was for all American Indians, past and 

 present, and I feel strongly you could 

 have added a great deal more to your 

 Sept./Oct. issue by calling your 

 readers' attention to the special year. 

 Instead you chose to ignore it, and in 

 effect denied the Carolina Indians the 

 honor. It's like saying, "It's not for 

 you." 



Well, the Year of the American 

 Indian has passed but will not be 

 forgotten as long as I'm around. 



Another event is coming up. Full 

 moon March 8 begins the Algonquian 

 Indian New Year 12,897. We share 



this with everyone. If you would like 

 to celebrate the new year, we welcome 

 you to do so. 



Pat Rollingcloud, 



Pittsboro, NC 



/ know you find this hard to 

 believe, but none of the Native Ameri- 

 can experts, archaeologists or Native 

 Americans that we interviewed for our 

 articles mentioned this proclamation. 

 And since our focus was primarily on 

 Native American history prior to 

 English contact, we saw nothing about 

 the proclamation in our background 

 reading. 



Obviously, you put great store in 

 this presidential proclamation. But we 

 felt it was better to honor North Caro- 

 lina Native Americans by dispersing 

 accurate information about their 

 history and their tremendous contribu- 

 tions to our present society. 



Liked Fishing Issue 



The recent issue of Coastwatch 

 on commercial fishing was very good. 

 You managed to present an even- 

 handed report on the business, which 

 is rare to see these days. I've been 

 shrimping here in Beaufort, S.C., for 

 16 years, putting my degree in psychol- 

 ogy from N.C. State University to great 

 use. Keep up the good work. 



Steve Kerchner, 



St. Helena, SC 



Coastwatch wants to hear from you 

 on topics relating to the North Caro- 

 lina coast. Letters should be no longer 

 than 250 words and should contain the 

 author's name, address and telephone 

 number. Letters may be edited for style. 

 Send all correspondence to Coast- 

 watch, UNC Sea Grant, Box 8605, 

 N.C. State University, Raleigh, NC 

 27695. Opinions expressed on this 

 page are not necessarily those of 

 UNC Sea Grant employees and staff. 



COASTWATCH 25 



