SUNBURY -- The Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday the ingredients that make hand soaps and body washes "antibacterial" must be removed.
The FDA says those ingredients do little to nothing to make soap work better, and it is now making companies take those ingredients out of hand soaps and body washes and take the word "antibacterial" off the label.
At Custom Care Pharmacy in downtown Sunbury, there is a row of hand soaps and body washes, but only a few of those products claim to be "antibacterial."
"A lot of the market has changed and not nearly as many people ask for those products as they used to," said pharmacist John Rosinski. "They're probably changing the ingredients or they've lost the market place and the demand just isn't what they thought it would be."
The FDA is giving companies a year to make the change. Joseph Walker of Sunbury is skeptical.
"I would think it would affect me in a way that wouldn't be the best because then you're not getting clean," Walker said.
Walker's wife Kimberly recently had surgery, and her doctor told her to use Dial soap.
"They said after the operation to keep using that because it had the antibacterial in it," she said.
But Bonnie Snyder of Sunbury isn't too worried.
"It doesn't bother me. I feel if a person keeps themselves clean and uses a soap, I don't see that it needs to be antibacterial," she said.
The pharmacist at Custom Care recommends the method that's tried and true: washing your hands with soap and water for about 30 seconds. If soap and water is not available, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol in it.
"Nothing's as good as the old-fashioned remedies. Nothing's changing, just the way the companies market the products," said Rosinski.
The FDA is also reviewing hand sanitizers and products used by hospitals.
