Hand soap issue - product taint concern?

Because of certain Occ. Health issues with a component in our antibacterial hand soap our supplier has changed to an alternative. The supplier is well regarded in the food industry and the paperwork, HACCP certification and taint test reports all show the product to be ideal for us. However when we have changed over there is a mild disinfectant / phenol type smell which remains on the hands after rinsing and drying. The soap is sold as using Hydrogen Peroxide but the smell is definitely the TCP / Germoline type smell. As our product is quite sensitive to taint I am slightly worried about potential tainting when handled by staff.

I don't want to name the company / product (unless I am allowed to?) but would like to know if anyone else has experienced a similar issue recently and what your gut feeling is.

Thanks

Thanks Simon

The product is "Deb OxyBac" http://www.debgroup....kin-care/oxybac

If you have any concerns with the product then ask your supplier to provide another alternative. Did they supply you with a MSDS? I looked online and saw that it contains as an active ingredient phenoxyethanol. Now I'm not a chemist, but I assume this is a phenol ester. It does say that it is food safe and has passed Food Taint Tests.

You could, if you were so inclined, send them a non-conformance citing the potential for a taint on your product for your reason to stop using.

Caz x

Well, my apologies if this seems like a "stupid" question, but is it required that a hand soap be approved for a particular use? I'm new at this and just started a company that repackages food products. I just wash my hands with an eco-friendly soap following the FDA's guidelines for hand washing. Isn't that enough? What about soap for the dishwasher and/or the 3-sink compartment?

Thanks for the help, JP

Dear ecostarhealth,

Well, my apologies if this seems like a "stupid" question, but is it required that a hand soap be approved for a particular use?

 

In the case of handling "Food products", Yes it is. The (safety) reason is related to cross-contamination. If you are unsure for yr particular process, i suggest you ask the FDA and they may happily offer a lecture on topics like adulteration. :smile:

Rgds / Charles.C

If you have any concerns with the product then ask your supplier to provide another alternative. Did they supply you with a MSDS? I looked online and saw that it contains as an active ingredient phenoxyethanol. Now I'm not a chemist, but I assume this is a phenol ester. It does say that it is food safe and has passed Food Taint Tests.

 

You could, if you were so inclined, send them a non-conformance citing the potential for a taint on your product for your reason to stop using.

 

Caz x

Thanks for the comments. As you say it contains a phenol which is probably giving the smell. The supplier have given me a long list of major food producers who use it and have no problems but I don't really care as I have an uneasy gut feeling. Imagine on a BRC audit the auditor say "This soap smells of TCP", even giving them the test results might still leave them uneasy. I am waiting for the technical people to get back to me and as you say I will be looking for one which doesn't smell. 

Does anyone have any recommendations for an unscented food industry soap as an alternative in the UK?

Hi, we are a food contact packaging company and use a product called Dymapearl bactericidal - unperfumed anti-bacterial hand soap.

The ingredients are: acqua, sodium laureth sulphate,sodium chloride, lactic acid, cocamidopropyl betaine, coco-glucoside, glyceryl loeate, benzoic acid, sodium hydroxide, benzyl alcohol, salicyclic acid, glycol distearate, cocamide MEA, laureth-10.

The uses: Dymapearl bactericidal is an unperfumed anti-bacterial handwashing lotion specially formulated for use in hospitals and in the food and catering industries where personal hygiene is essential.

Well spotted Caz

I'm not an organic chemist either but with free chlorine likely to be in the water this sets alarm bells ringing.

I too wouldn't be interested in a long list of food producers who haven't noticed a 'problem'. What sort of attitude is that?

Ask them to supply a suitable alternative or change suppliers, there should be a wide choice of food chemical suppliers in the UK that would be more than willing to help.

Regards,

Tony

Thanks for all the comments. I spoke to the rep who said that some other customers had also complained, although most "loved the reassuring smell of disinfectant"!!!!!!!!!!!!

They have a new variation coming out in a couple of weeks which (allegedly) doesn't smell.

I have asked for the soap to be taken out and are now back to the old one until a suitable alternative is found.

The thing that really annoys me is that I am trying the "Provide relevant information and let the responsible department get on with it" approach and completely failed as they didn't get samples to try, just relied on the rep and the paperwork! Guess what, the poor old Technical Manager has to do it again so that it will be right..... get the violins out someone :blahblah: