Comment by D-Machine

Not sure where you read that, but the person is obviously wrong (EDIT: oh I see, they say it in the otherwise very good article linked in GP). Soap helps reduce pathogens just like does in washing hands: it doesn't sterilize, but it removes a huge amount, and makes it so subsequent proper sterilization (bleach, heat, etc) properly reaches the surface.

But, yes, if you just soap a board and rinse after cutting raw chicken on it, and then immediately (i.e. without allowing drying overnight) put on e.g. raw vegetables, and then e.g. throw those raw veggies in the fridge to be consumed / eaten hours or days later, then indeed the simple washing may not in general be enough, or may not be practically much different than using lots of very hot running water. E.g. some epidemiological studies fail to find washing habits predict outbreaks (https://academic.oup.com/jaoac/article-abstract/89/2/538/565...).

But the conclusion to draw from this is not to skip the soap, but, rather, that the drying is often a more crucial part of good washing than the particular washing method.