For you germ-obsessed masses...

I've had a long-standing war with products that claim to be anti-bacterial. Mostly soaps and cleansers, used by over-zealous germ-freaks who suffer from latent Lady Macbeth syndrome.

You see, contrary to public belief, anti-bacterial products are not a cure-all. Nor are they very good for children. Regular soap keeps you clean. While it doesn't kill bacteria, it washes it away. And for all you parents who insist on sytematically eliminating bacteria from your home and keeping your kids out of the dirt, know that your young'un will pay the price. Why? Because studies have shown that growing up in a non germ-obsessive environment actually helps develop your child's immune system. (Look up "immune system" and "eating dirt" and "children" in a search engine -- some stuff should come up.)

Oh, I could on for ages about this.

Anyway, the reason I'm bringing it up is that in the US, there is a panel set up for the FDA (Food And Drug Administration) to determine whether antibacterial soaps and the like should be used in medical facilities only -- the argument being that experts feel this is contributing to the drug-resistant bacteria that's become so popular lately. (You can check out the story at Yahoo! News here.)

So yes, your fancy-pants anti-bacterial handwash could actually be contributing to superflus. (That and the North American belief that every illness requires an immediate trip to your doctor to ask for penicillin.)

Of course, the soap industry is fighting this tooth and nail. And god love the capitalist system -- it would be nothing short of disastrous if government bodies made decisions based on the health of the people instead of the economy.