I'll Stay Unhygienic.

I bought washing up liquid yesterday, and I noticed that the bottle sporting the words with anti-bacterial agent was 40% dearer than the others in the range. My first thought was ‘Aren’t our bodies already being invaded by enough artificial chemicals in everything from food to furniture without adding more?’

But of course, the real story is the big con. Manufacturers know that we live in a culture obsessed with risk-avoidance, and they know that Nanny Establishment is bent upon making us almost manically concerned about hygiene. It’s even being suggested by some professional observers that this is causing children to grow up with reduced immune systems, thereby making them more susceptible to illness. But the corporate mentality cares nothing for such things. All they see is profit, and if they can persuade people to believe that they’re less likely to be ill by paying 40% more for their washing up liquid, that’s all to the good. And people fall for it. What’s more, I’d like to know just how much more it costs a manufacturer to add a little ‘anti-bacterial agent’ to a batch of washing up liquid.

Did I say I’ll go to Bedlam?