Next time you're in the kitchen, look at the area where you prepare food. Wondering how many pathogenic bacteria could live there? There are definitely some. But don't let that image make you want to throw down this magazine and run to get the antibacterial cleaner under the sink. Right now it's pretty hard for those bacteria to get into your body and start wreaking havoc, because there just aren't enough of them in your kitchen. But TV commercials for antibacterial detergents would have you believe otherwise. Those happy soccer moms want you to be so afraid of the bacteria living in your kitchen that you make sure to buy their product, the one that "kills 99.9% of bacteria." Now, it's true that bacteria can cause disease, and as humans we are often at odds with bacteria, but we can't kill them all. If we try, we may see our plans fail and send us into a new and precarious future of disease. To understand how, we simply need to take a look at how bacteria quickly became resistant to antibiotics and we see a story unfold that starts with penicillin as an attack on the disease and has now become a kind of Frankenstein's monster. Since the 1950s, antibiotics have been widely available and often prescribed, and as a result our overuse and reliance on antibiotics has left us powerless against new, stronger bacterial species capable of causing life-threatening diseases, such as tuberculosis. In their valiant effort to create safe, disease-free environments, hospitals have unknowingly contributed to the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Although today these "superbugs" are found mainly in hospitals, a new wave of household products... middle of paper... let's think about our kitchen. You have the power to keep it as close to your childhood memory as possible. By limiting the use of antibacterial products, we can keep our homes and our children's homes safe. But by attempting to eliminate all bacteria and live germ-free, we will catapult ourselves into a dark and uncertain future, where our best cure will have become our worst poison.Note1. “Press Release Archive for 1999,” Soap and Detergent Association website, May 22, 2014 .2. Joseph B. Verrengia, “Some Soaps May Help Drug Resistance,” AP Online. August 6, 2014, June 16, 2014; see also Barbara Ingham, “September 2014 Newsletter,” Food Facts for You! June 20, 2014www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/specialists/ingham/sep2014.html3. Verrengia.