The new germ warfare As the hygiene police campaign for a total clean-up, others argue that this leads to superbugs. So who's right? By Abigail Wild

When it was put to him on the Today programme that hygiene has gone too far and that we are all too clean, he responded live on air that the assertion was "bollocks".

Strict hygiene when preparing food at home makes sense, considering the kitchen, not the bathroom, is potentially the most germ-ridden room in the house. There are likely to be many times more fecal bacteria on your chopping board than on your toilet seat.

The Food Standards Agency, therefore, reiterates that it is vital to wash your hands before starting to prepare food, and after touching raw meat, the bin or pets. Raw meat is the potential monster, containing harmful bacteria that can spread very easily to anything it touches - worktops, chopping boards, utensils and food.

Ian M Gould, a clinical microbiologist also based at Aberdeen University, warns against forgetting these hygiene basics. "What we don't want to do is go back to the bad old days, the poor hygiene of the early twentieth century when infant mortality was high, " he says. "We don't want only one in four children making it to the age of two and the rest dying of infectious diseases."

Yet he does not advocate excessive use of germ-zapping cleaners in addressing household cleanliness, and says that food preparation is perhaps the one instance where myriad cleaning products have real use. Nor is there any need for germ paranoia. Yes, more than 65% of colds, 50% of all cases of diarrhoea and 50% to 80% of food-borne illnesses are estimated to be caught in the home, but that is largely because we spend such a big chunk of our time in the home and prepare our meals there.

"The argument is that antibacterial cleaners do little good in most situations outside food handling, " says Dr Gould. "And even in the kitchen, there are basic things you can do besides using antibacterial sprays. It is very effective to have a chopping board that doesn't have scratches, and the principle of keeping uncooked and cooked food separate should always be applied.

"There is some concern that such widespread use of some of these cleaners is responsible for environmental pollution, and also that some probably don't work. But there is no such thing as a microbiological vacuum. There will always be a bug that is resistant and ready to jump in."

Companies that formulate expensive cleaning products defend their goods, not least because of their time-saving properties. Director of the UK Cleaning Products Industry Association, Andy Williams, says that although much praise is heaped upon good old-fashioned soap, water and elbow grease, it is not a very effective general purpose cleaner, in that it can't tackle several jobs at the same time. Nor, he argues, are soap and warm water as effective as specialised detergents on specific problems such as grease, soap scum and limescale.

He concedes the rise of superbugs - bacteria resistant to normal doses of antibiotics - has been clearly attributed to the overuse and abuse of antibiotics in human medicine and potentially in animal medicine and farming. But DrWilliams adds that the evidence does not support the idea that germ-killing agents in household cleaners have any effect on the rise of superbugs, and states that the history of development of the problem does not fit the pattern of use of such products.

It is the use of cleaning products, not the products themselves, that can render them useless, he suggests.

"Far from overusing hygiene products, our hygiene standards often leave a lot to be desired, not least because often we don't utilise what we use in a thoughtful and effective way, " says DrWilliams.

While it would be to his association's advantage if we all fretted endlessly over germs, he says we don't particularly need to worry about bugs individually unless someone in the home is ill.

The best approach is to practise good hygiene in everyday situations, when the risks are higher. That is to say, before and after preparing food, paying special attention when someone is ill in the house, or when there are young children, elderly, pregnant or ill people around whose immune system is diminished.

THERE IS A LOGIC BEHIND PARENTS choosing to be that little bit more strict about hygiene around babies, since they are vulnerable and small, and a mere cold can be misery.

Some toy companies have been able to make toys that offer that extra bit of reassurance to parents using Microban antibacterial protection, also used in the manufacture of food processors and hospital equipment.

Although children's toys are said to harbour some nasty germs if not cleaned regularly, statistics about how many germs are to be found on different surfaces are not always a good guide as to how often they should be cleaned. "What matters in terms of infection risk is not just how many germs there are - and it varies enormously - but what they are, how many can cause infection, and how easily they can survive and be transmitted, " DrWilliams says.

Therefore, carpets and sofas are rarely a problem, but surfaces frequently touched by hand, or that that are in with contact food, generally are. "Levels in properly maintained toilets can often be quite low, but 1ml of diarrhoea can contain more than a trillion germs, and with some viruses as few as 10 can make you ill - hence the need for focusing when someone has an infection, " DrWilliams adds.

It is possible, adds Dr Gould, to be overly cautious with children. "We must remember that most bugs are good. If you don't come across some bugs when you are young, then your immune system may not learn as fast as it should and build up a memory bank. That could mean less of an immunity when older."

There is mounting research to suggest exposure to microbes and getting infected with some of them strengthens the body's natural immune system against allergies. A study carried out in Sweden and Estonia found that babies raised in sterile hospital environments experienced a six-fold increase in allergies.

Whether or not you should clean a toddler's dummy with your own spittle Dr Gould, for one, considers to be a trivial question.