The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tasked with promoting public health by ensuring the safety and efficacy of medicines and consumer products. But like most federal bureaucracies under the Obama administration, it has allowed its regulatory agenda to be influenced by activist groups. The FDA’s latest target is, of all things, antibacterial soaps, which fringe activists believe pose a variety of health and environmental threats. Antibacterial hand soap is nearly universal and has been scientifically proven to eliminate many of the most common food-borne bacteria that can cause serious infections. Hand-washing, as every kindergartner knows, is our first line of defense against the spread of a number of diseases, and antibacterial hand soap in particular plays an important, low-cost role in promoting public health. A one-dollar bottle of soap can protect a family from salmonella, E. coli, MRSA, and other potentially fatal infectious bacteria that uncooked foods can carry by the millions. Read more.