Most of us have relied on hand sanitisers to help protect us from COVID-19 these past few months, but consumer organisation CHOICE is warning that some products are duds.
The pandemic has brought hand sanitiser use to the fore as far as the general population is concerned, but a survey has revealed widespread confusion amongst Australians about the quality and effectiveness of different types of hand sanitiser products.
In a CHOICE survey of 1013 people aged 18-70, 66 per cent of respondents either didn't know (36 per cent) or incorrectly believed (30 per cent) alcohol free sanitisers would protect them from COVID-19 highlighting a major information gap that could leave Australians buying products that won't protect them.
A further CHOICE analysis of sanitiser labeling found sanitisers lacking key information like the percentage of alcohol in products, making it difficult to buy products that meet World Health Organisation standards for sanitisers.
In order to be effective a hand sanitiser must contain between 60 per cent and 95 per cent alcohol, depending on the type used. If a sanitiser product claims to be made using the World Health Organisation (WHO) formula then it must contain 80% ethanol or 75% isopropyl alcohol.
"Hand sanitiser standards and labelling in Australia is a confusing mess," said CHOICE health campaigner Dean Price.
"Right now, companies can call non-alcoholic gel products "hand sanitiser" even when there's no good evidence these products offer effective protection against viruses.
"These dud "sanitisers" can sit on the same supermarket shelves as genuinely effective options. We need better labels to help people find sanitisers guaranteed to protect them and their families."
The Australian Government had an opportunity to fix sanitiser labels with better regulation and to resource spot checks to make sure the sanitisers on the market actually protect people against viruses," said Mr Price.
The survey found:
- 59 per cent of people believe that hand sanitisers sold in Australia are required by law to state the percentage of alcohol they contain on the label (they don't)
- 49 per cent of people believe that hand sanitisers sold in Australia are required by law to contain a certain amount of alcohol (they don't)
- 74 per cent of Australians trust sanitisers sold in supermarkets and chemists are effective against COVID-19 (CHOICE says this high level of trust matched with poor information and labelling means people may buy ineffective products)
CHOICE also analysed the labelling and claims of 30 supermarket sanitisers, after conducting its own alcohol content spot test earlier this year. Nearly half of the sanitiser products analysed lacked key information, demonstrating the need for Government action.
The analysis of 30 supermarket sanitiser labels found that 47 per centy of sanitiser brands don't label the percentage of alcohol in their product
CHOICE is calling for the Australian Government and Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar to urgently:
- Implement a national labelling standard for sanitiser products so that only products known to be effective against viruses can use the term "hand sanitiser."
- Resource regular spot checks of sanitiser products to ensure they have enough alcohol to be effective against COVID-19.
These measures would then allow the ACCC to issue fines to businesses that fail to comply with the standards.
"These are simple actions the Federal Government can take right now to ensure safe and effective sanitisers are being sold to Australians. Even outside of the context of a global pandemic, we must set a higher standard for essential health products," said Mr Price.
Australians can join CHOICE in asking the Federal Assistant Treasurer to act on dodgy hand sanitisers at: CHOICE.com.au/handsanitiser
CHOICE has expanded its own testing program in the absence of meaningful regulation or monitoring, following a community tip off revealing a sanitiser with only 23 per cent alcohol content - well below the amount required to be effective.
Eileen Wood
I'm a senior news journalist at The Senior newspaper, the leading publication bringing targeted news on issues affecting older Australians. We cover NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, SA and WA. If you have a story idea I would love to hear it. You can email me: eileen.wood@thesenior.com.au or phone The Senior 02-4355-5000, mob. 0487 495 805
I'm a senior news journalist at The Senior newspaper, the leading publication bringing targeted news on issues affecting older Australians. We cover NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, SA and WA. If you have a story idea I would love to hear it. You can email me: eileen.wood@thesenior.com.au or phone The Senior 02-4355-5000, mob. 0487 495 805
