Dettol gets help from kitchen hygiene study

Dettol, the brand we all know so well as a liquid antiseptic and disinfectant, a brand that has repeatedly found a place in lists of India’s most trusted brands, had decided to launch, in India, a brand extension – Dettol Healthy Kitchen Gel. You pause for a moment at the rationale behind the extension. The association with Dettol, as we know it before today, is a liquid we dab over open cuts and wounds as an antiseptic. It’s an antiseptic we’ve poured a few cupfuls of into buckets of hot water after an outing that has been through grime and dust. We knew, on these occasions, that Dettol was the friend we needed. Today, we see this ad in the Times of India. [caption id=“attachment_632334” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The new Dettol Ad.[/caption] Tucked away in a corner of the label we find the words, recommended by Indian Medical Association. Do we really need such a product? Yes, because a number of newspapers tell us so – in their editorial. Here’s what the ToI said last week. “A survey of 1,400 homemakers from seven cities has revealed that they clean their toilets much more frequently than the kitchen. While recent global studies have started correlating food and water contamination to unhygienic kitchens, experts say the fact that unfriendly bugs may thrive on kitchen counters, knives and chopping boards is yet to hit home. The Indian Medical Academy (IMA) survey, carried out across 200 households in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune, pointed out how cleaning the kitchen on a regular basis featured at the tail end of priorities when compared with having a cleaner bedroom or a living room. More homemakers thought of the living room when asked about their perception of cleanliness and hygiene. Kitchen fared way below in the cleanliness list and was just ahead of toilets,.” Oh dear, that’s frightening. “Unfriendly bugs may thrive on kitchen counters…”. “Kitchens fared way below in the cleanliness list…". And the study is by a very credible-sounding Indian Medical Academy (which is not to be confused with the 80 year-old Indian Medical Association or the Medical Council of India). The academy sounds impressive, the study seems impressive, so The Times of India carries it. It’s not just the Times of India. Here’s New Indian Express. “Almost 69 per cent of women in the city, interviewed during a survey conducted by the Indian Medical Academy (IMA), were unaware that the kitchen was a possible source of infection.”. So you look around your house, check out your kitchen and it’s sparkling. You don’t need the gel, you think, You’re wrong. You do – because your eyes are deceiving you. ““A visually clean kitchen is only a superficially clean kitchen if it is not properly disinfected and sanitised”, a new survey conducted by the Indian Medical Academy (IMA) has revealed,” says ChennaiOnline. You still need to be convinced? “Meanwhile, 87 per cent of doctors recommend using an anti-bacterial bar, liquid or gel,” the ChennaiOnline report continues. (Emphasis is Firstpost’s). Go on, rush to the nearest grocery store and pick up the new Dettol Healthy Kitchen Gel, even if your kitchen is sparkling. It’s not the ad that convinces you, it’s the editorial coverage on an Indian Medical Academy study, and they must be right. “Only proper disinfection and regular sanitisation of kitchen utensils, articles as well as surfaces can ensure a safe and germ-free kitchen,” says IMA . Great timing for Dettol. Here’s the full ad: