Many antibacterial soaps removed from shelves

Many antibacterial soaps removed from shelves
The FDA has banned many anti-bacterial soaps calling for companies to remove harmful chemicals that raise safety concerns.

The FDA has announced their long-awaited decision to remove certain antibacterial soaps from American shelves.

According to the Food and Drug Administration announcement, antibacterial soaps, or any other product containing the ingredients triclosan and triclocarbam, will be removed from the market and have been deemed unsafe for human consumption.

In a statement released by the agency, the decision came after companies and research facilities failed to provide sufficient evidence to suggest the ingredients were safe and beneficial to the consumer.

“Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs, but we have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water,” said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). “In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long-term.”

The FDA’s decision does not include hand-sanitisers or wipes, and is only meant to apply to soap that requires water to be used.

What do you think of the decision? Do you know what ingredients are in your antibacterial soap?

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