Entering the mall, Lin’s antibacterial products are tumultuous, and many of the products are packaged with various types of antibacterial identification, which makes people feel that they have such certifications and that the antibacterial effects of the product are fully guaranteed. However, there is a widespread misconception that antibacterial certification authorities have a uniform and rigorous testing process. This misdemeanor is affecting consumer choices and health protection.
Ideally, the professional authority ‘ s antibacterial certification body does follow a rigorous scientific testing process. They begin with precision screening of experimental bacteria, based on product application scenarios, such as medical supplies focused on resistance to strains, home-based supplies focused on common infections, and then simulated real environments, such as oil pollution in the kitchen, dampness in the kitchen, temperature in the bedroom, frequency of human exposure, etc., and full-scale testing of the product ‘ s antibacterial properties. In the case of an antibacterial plate, for example, the certification takes into account the inhibition of intestinal and skin-prone fungus, such as coli and yellow raisins, following multiple experiments and repeated tests, before the product can be certified and closed to consumers.
The reality is far more complex than I imagined. The current market is mixed, some of the so-called “certificate bodies” under the guise of a profession, but they do not set up their own rules. These institutions often lack specialized laboratory equipment and technical skills, and the testing process is crude. In some cases, monobacteria are simply painted in the ordinary environment to observe the survival of the product ‘ s surface bacteria over a short period of time, regardless of the complexity of the product ‘ s actual use. For example, small-scale certification bodies certify a plastic cup for antibacterial resistance, with a small amount of coli fungi being tested for a few minutes at constant temperatures, without simulating the real scenes of hot water in the cup, exposure to tea and coffee stains, and long periods of wear and tear, and hastily certifying the market for unproductive products.
Even worse, the benefits are driven by false authentication. Individual agencies collaborate with bad traders, skip the test and sell certification as a means of financial enrichment. A common towel, which, without any antibacterial treatment, businesses can afford to buy “antibacterial certification” labels from such institutions, shake them into “antibacterial theorists” and deceive consumers to buy them at high prices, effectively without any antibacterial effect and completely reduced them to “intelligence tax”.
This misperception is far-reaching. For consumers, false faith in fraudulently authenticated products not only fails to obtain antibacterial safeguards, but may also cause infection due to product quality problems, such as health damage with substandard antibacterial components, or the indiscriminate growth of bacteria when using substandard antibacterial household products. In the case of the industry, “failure to drive away the good currency”, the high cost of R & D in formal antibacterial enterprises and the competition of “false makers” with rigorous testing, discourage innovation and hinder the healthy development of the industry.
To break the fog, consumers need to pay more attention when choosing to buy. It is important not only to look at the certification label, but also to gain insight into the qualifications of the certification body and to see whether it is accredited by the State and is equally certified by an international authority; to study the details of the product detection report, as compared to the experimental conditions for the products certified by different institutions, the selection of bacteria, etc. Regulatory authorities have a greater responsibility to establish a unified access threshold for certification bodies, to strengthen day-to-day supervision and spot checks, to impose heavy penalties on fraudulent certification bodies, to revoke licences and to cleanse the market environment. Industry associations also have a leading role to play in regularly publishing a list of formal certification bodies, a blacklist of bad institutions and the promotion of industry self-regulation, which is the only way in which anti-bacterial certification can truly become a “gold standard” for consumers to choose.
