The extraordinary results of a new study sponsored by The Dial Corporation, a Henkel company, which were just published in the prestigious, peer reviewed Journal of Food Protection, prove that not all hand soaps are alike in their performance. In fact, this first of a kind, real-world study showed that Dial Complete® Antibacterial Foaming Hand Soap’s patented antibacterial formula helps protect people from significantly more illness-causing germs than ordinary soap.

Dial’s method compared washing with Dial Complete® containing Activated Triclosan™ Technology to washing with a plain liquid soap.  The hands of the participants were first contaminated with the bacteria E. coli, which was selected since it is commonly associated with foodborne illness, and previous studies have correlated the quantity ingested to the probability of illness.  The participants’ hands were then either washed with Dial Complete® soap or a plain liquid soap.  They then handled melon balls and measured the quantity of bacteria transferred from the washed hands to the melon balls.

The results were nothing short of remarkable.  The Dial Complete® hand wash was significantly better than plain soap and water at eliminating bacteria from the hands.   Furthermore, compared to plain soap and water, the Dial Complete® hand wash was up to 30 times more effective in reducing the bacterial transfer from the hands to the melon balls.  Based on published infection dose rates for E. coli, washing with Dial Complete® soap could reduce your risk of disease by 45 percent over washing with a plain liquid soap. 

The study concluded that the hand soap people choose can mean the difference between staying healthy or falling prey to illness or infection. To find out more, refer to the complete study Effect of Hand Wash Agents on Controlling the Transmission of Pathogenic Bacteria from Hands to Food  by G.E. Fischler et al, published in Journal of Food Protection, Vol 70, No. 12, 2007, pages 2873-2877.