Question

I have a large wooden cutting board which is used in my kitchen mainly for preparing egg pasta. The wood type is Populus (poplar or aspen or cottonwood).

The main ingredients used with the cutting board are: flour (mainly soft wheat flour), hens' eggs, white sugar, butter, and baking powder.

After the food preparation, the cutting board is cleaned by scraping away the ingredients remains.

The board has some cracks and some small unknown insects are living inside the cracks.

The board has also a lot of holes due to woodboring beetles but I think the woodworms operated long time ago and they no longer live in the cutting board.

The unknown insect has an approximate length of 1 mm (along the direction of their movements) and a width of 0.3 mm. The unknown insects do not have wings, they just walk. I am not able to see how many pairs of legs they have.

The color of the insect is pale brown.

The cutting board was free from these unknown insects some months ago but then they appeared.

My questions:

What insects are they?
Are these insects poisonous to humans?
How can I get rid of them?

Answer 1

The small unknown insects living in the cracks of the cutting board can be eliminated by thorough cleaning and sealing the cracks with a food-safe wax or oil.

Step-by-step explanation:

The small unknown insects living inside the cracks of your cutting board could be wood-boring beetles or some other type of insect attracted to the food remains in the cracks. It is difficult to identify the exact species without more information, but it is unlikely that they are poisonous to humans.

To get rid of them, you can start by thoroughly cleaning your cutting board with hot water and soap, making sure to scrub the cracks. After cleaning, you can apply a food-safe wood wax or oil to seal the cracks and prevent insects from entering. If the infestation persists, it may be necessary to replace the cutting board.

Please note that it's important to regularly clean and maintain your cutting board to prevent the growth of bacteria and other contaminants.