Antibacterial soap proven effective in preventing foodborne illness

Antibacterial soaps have been proven to be more effective in halting the spread of foodborne diseases than non-antibacterial soaps.

Research published in the Journal of Food Protection compared the ability of non-antibacterial and antibacterial soaps to reduce the risk of shigellosis, which is often spread during food preparation.

Lead researcher Dr Donald Schaffner of Rutgers University’s Department of Food Science says the data show that the use of three antibacterial wash products result in a statistically significant reduction in the presence of Shigella (the bacterium that causes shigellosis) compared to the use of the non-antibacterial soaps.

“This exciting research blends quantitative microbial risk assessments with an impressive set of laboratory data to show that antibacterial treatments are more effective than non-antibacterial treatments in reducing disease,” said Dr Schaffner.

To determine how effective the different types of soaps are, the researchers compared two non-antibacterial and three antibacterial products in a study in which 163 subjects simulated food handling. The participants’ hands were exposed to Shigella and then treated with one of the five products before handling melon balls. The resulting levels of Shigella on the food were then measured.

The data show all three antibacterial treatments significantly lowered the concentration of Shigella compared to the non-antibacterial treatments. Based on this model, the paper predicted that by washing with the antibacterial treatments, the number of illnesses caused by eating the melon could be reduced tenfold.

“This research provides strong evidence that antibacterial soaps are significantly more effective than non-antibacterial soaps in reducing Shigella on the hands and its subsequent transfer to ready-to-eat foods,” the authors wrote.

The research was published in Volume 77, No. 4 2014 of the Journal of Food Protection on pages 574 to 582