- Manufacturers are exploiting people's
fears about hygiene with a whole range of expensive anti-bacterial products
that may do more harm than good.
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- Experts believe the overuse of anti-bacterial
agents in household products such as washing-up liquids, chopping boards,
binliners and kitchen utensils could lead to resistant bacteria, and make
people complacent about basic hygiene.
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- Research today in the science journal
Nature confirms these fears. It shows that E.coli, one of the most common
causes of food poisoning, could develop resistance to triclosan - a common
anti-bacterial agent.
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- A Health Which? survey, also published
today, found that half of the people in Britain have bought anti-bacterial
products. But one in 10 wrongly believed the products made dishes, surfaces
and hands sterile, and one in six believed boards with anti-bacterial agents
needed less cleaning.
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- An investigation by The Independent revealed
manufacturers are charging a large premium for products that contain anti-bacterial
agents. A standard bottle of Tesco washing up liquid costs 67p, a similar
product with an anti- bacterial agent costs £1.35. Sainsbury's 10
All Purpose cloths cost 49p, or £1.59 with anti-bacterial protection.
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- "Ordinary detergents are perfectly
adequate," said Janice Allen of the National Consumer Council. "If
you stick to the normal hygiene rules in the kitchen then there isn't any
need to use them."
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- Stuart Coverley of the National Federation
of Consumer Groups said: "Consumers are being unnecessarily overcharged.
They're being taken for a ride."
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- But despite the money spent on the products,
official figures from the Public Health Laboratory Service show that the
number of food poisoning cases has tripled in the past 10 years, with 100,000
cases reported in 1998.
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- The market for household anti-bacterial
cleansers, first introduced 12 years ago, is the fastest-growing sector
of the £140m domestic surface cleaning products market. It is estimated
that consumers spend more than £25 million a year on these anti-bacterial
products.
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- "We'd like to see a closer monitoring
of this rapidly growing market, and hope that a new European Union directive,
the Biocidal Products Directive, will deliver this," said Charlotte
Gann, editor of Health Which? "But ultimately this is a whole new
market we can do without."
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- The research published in Nature has
shown that E.coli bacteria, one of the most common causes of food poisoning,
could acquire resistance to triclosan's effects through a comparatively
simple mutation.
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- "It works by inhibiting a key metabolic
pathway involving a particular enzyme," said Professor David Rice
of the University of Sheffield's molecular biology department.
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- "In that sense it is acting as an
anti-biotic would. That means anti-biotic-type resistance could arise."
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- Widespread use since the chemical was
introduced could also have led people to rely too heavily on it, he added.
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- "There's no doubt people are worried
about getting bacterial infection, but basic hygiene procedures are often
more than enough."
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