Last night I was watching Food Detectives on the Food Network. One of the things they were testing is to see if wood cutting boards harbor more bacteria than plastic ones (even after being washed). They proved that wood cutting boards are actually, slightly, less likely to harbor bacteria. They still had a little bacteria on them, but not as much as the plastic ones. They weren't really sure why that was, but one of the theories was that the wood could pull the bacteria deeper into the cutting board so that it was no longer in contact with the top cutting service.
They stressed the importance of disinfecting your cutting board. The most common way to do this is to use a bleach/water solution. Now, anyone that knows me knows my aversion to bleach. In fact, I don't have any bleach in my house. Bleach is one of the worst chemicals you could actually have in your home!!! But, they did offer another solution. I was delighted when I heard it! This is an item that I use all the time around my house and couldn't wait to disinfect my cutting boards :) What is it? VINEGAR!!! There you go, another use for that great, inexpensive, acidic condiment.