Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene September - October 2016 Vol. 11 No.4 | Page 36

Hygiene

FDA Bans 19 Chemicals Used In
Antibacterial Soaps
Fear is a potent
marketing tool.
Consider how
a Listerine
advertising
campaign in the
1920s literally
turned bad breath
into a disease (and
sold a ton of
The FDA ban applies only to consumer products, mouthwash along
not those used in hospitals and food service
the way) or the
settings.
run on potassium
iodide in North
America after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster
in 2011.
Then there are antibacterial soaps and body washes, which
have targeted—and arguably created—a widespread
fear of disease-causing bacteria lurking on every surface
of our homes and bodies. Sales of antibacterial soap
skyrocketed during the 2009 H1N1 flu sale and have stayed
strong since, as brands marketed their antibacterials as
scientifically proven to clean better than the stuff you used
to keep by your sink.
The problem was there wasn’t ever really any science
there. For years, researchers have been trying to convince
consumers that soap and water does just as good a job as
antibacterial products when it comes to protecting you
from disease. Worse, some of the antibacterial chemicals
have proven ill effects: They contribute to the growth
of drug-resistant bacterias, cause health problems by
destroying helpful bacterias that live on our bodies, and
have the potential to disrupt our hormones. And after they
flow down our drains, they cause environmental damage to
animals and plants.
On 2 September 2016, the US Food and Drug
Administration issued a final rule designed to protect the
American public from these chemicals and their marketers:
Moving forward, companies will no longer be allowed to
market any antibacterial washes that contain one or more
of 19 specific active ingredients. The new rule, initially
proposed in 2013, gives companies a year to reformulate
their products without those chemicals.
The list of newly-banned ingredients includes the two that
the FDA says are the most commonly used in antibacterial
soaps: triclosan and triclocarban. Triclosan in particular has
troubled public health advocates over the years. As STAT
News reports, studies done on lab animals show that the
chemical can disrupt hormones in the body, leading to all
sorts of issues ranging from infertility to impaired brain
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Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • September - October 2016

development and heart function. In addition, the stuff
can end up in sewage sludge that gets used as fertilizer—
meaning it can re-enter the food chain through crops.
The rule does not affect any other products containing
triclosan, which include cosmetics, shaving creams, and
even some toothpastes.

Nearly 20,000 restaurants risk losing 61% of
customers due to poor food hygiene

Restaurants with low food hygiene ratings are risking their
survival, with 61% of consumers saying they’ll boycott
such establishments, according to research carried out by
food safety technology Checkit.
The organization warns that 18,379 restaurants, takeaways,
sandwich/coffee shops, hotels and pubs in England,
Wales and Northern Ireland are at risk, as they currently
have a Food Standards Agency Food Hygiene Rating of
two or below, meaning they require improvement to their
practices and processes.
The study found that London is the city with the
largest number of food businesses at risk (5,092), while
Birmingham has the highest percentage (17%) of
restaurants scoring two or below. It is followed by Leicester
(14%), London (14%) and Manchester (11%). Overall,
7% of cafes, canteens, restaurants, mobile caterers, pubs,
takeaways, sandwich shops and hotels in England, W