There was another study like the one you have shown. The finding itself is NOT wrong per sa, but it can be taken out of context. While it may be true that it is easier to clean a brand new plastic cutting board than a brand new wood cutting board (wood being more porous), another study shows that an old (heavily scarred) wood cutting board harbor less bacteria than an old (heavily scarred) plastic cutting board.
In short, if you are willing to replace your plastic boards often, then the plastic board route is slightly more sanitized. If you want to keep using your cutting boards for years, then a wood board is slightly more sanitized.
I won’t say the plastic vs wood debate has been concluded. Other recent studies have shown that wood is safer. I honestly think both are just as good, and the difference really is small as long as you keep safe practice.
“Contaminated raw samples were placed on polyethylene and wooden cutting boards to simulate bacterial transfer to cutting boards…Moreover, transfer rates of L. monocytogenes from wooden cutting boards at holding time of 1 h to both cooled and hot cooked samples were lower than those from polyethylene cutting board.”
