Hand sanitizers, great to use after our kids have eaten something sticky at the zoo or on an automobile trip with the family. What a great invention! Clean hands, germs gone! Or are they?

Manufacturer's claim that sanitizer's kill 99.9 per cent of germs. The question we consumers need to ask is, "What germs and from where?"

When consumers hear the claim, "kills 99.9 per cent of germs", we assume they mean 99.9 per cent of germs on a person/child's hands.
Unfortunately, manufacturer's test their product on inanimate objects, using surfaces with controlled variables as an easier way to obtain some type of consistency in the results. But everyday life is not consistent and there is inherent complexity in the human hand. Testing on the human hand would be more difficult and there would probably be far different results in the kinds of germs and amount killed.

In its regulations concerning proper procedures for food service, the Food and Drug Administration recommends that sanitizers not be used in place of soap and water, but only as an adjunct.

If you have no other means to clean off your hands, sanitizers will do the job, but to kill germs, use a good supply of old fashioned soap and water.

Learn more about this author, Barbara Haskell.
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