Colgate Palmolive has bought an end to years of litigation by agreeing to hand over US$2 million to settle a class action suit over its Softsoap Antibacterial liquid soap. The multidistrict litigation, bought in 2012, alleged that Colgate Palmolive misled consumers with claims that the soap killed ’99 percent of germs’ thanks to key ingredient triclosan.

The plaintiffs argued that Colgate’s statement was deceptive and unfair as the antimicrobial pesticide has been proven to be no more effective at killing germs than regular soap and water.

As part of the settlement, Colgate Palmolive has pledged to remove the claims from its packaging. However, following separate controversy surrounding the use of triclosan in personal care products, the manufacturer has also committed to reformulating its products without recourse to the maligned anti-bacterial.

Triclosan was recently banned in the European Union following a decision by the European Chemicals Agency and pressure groups are calling on the US Food and Drugs Administration to follow suit.