• Tabard is a range of insect repellents that deter most biting insects for up to eight hours
• It is arguably one of the best known and most trusted insect repellents in use across Africa
• Our repellents are manufactured by Acorn Pharmaceuticals under GMP conditions accredited by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA)¹

¹Certificate of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) 6/7/3/3/1/G0187/2021.pdf

• SAHPRA is responsible for the regulation of health products, licensing of manufacturers, wholesalers, and distributors of medicines
• Since Tabard was originally registered with the Medicines Control Council, it has always been made using a proven formulation containing the highest quality DEET, in the ideal concentrations as demonstrated by Tabard’s proven efficacy reports²

²SABS Tabard Aerosol Pesticide test report 2000.pdf

²SABS Tabard Lotion Pesticide test report 2003.pdf

• The common name for Diethyltoluamide
• The active ingredient in the majority of the world’s most trusted insect repellents, including Tabard³
• DEET is often described as ‘the gold standard’ of insect repellents because of its efficacy⁴
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) endorses using insect repellents containing DEET in its recommendations for the prevention of malaria⁵
• In the USA, the Environmental Protection Agency reports that DEET is safer than many people assume – based on the EPA 1998 Review and 2014 re-assessment of DEET, which states: “we concluded that insect repellents containing DEET do not present a health concern.”⁶

³United States Environmental Protection Agency website, (Accessed August 10 2021, at www.epa.gov/insect-repellents/deet) “Approximately 120 products containing DEET are currently registered with the EPA by about 30 different companies.”
⁴Leal WS, “The enigmatic reception of DEET – the gold standard of insect repellents” PMC 2015 December 1
⁵World Health Organization “International Travel and Health” 2020 Update.pdf (ISBN 978-92-4-158047-2)
⁶United States Environmental Protection Agency Docket Number EPA-HQ-OPP-2012-0162 ‘ Interim Registration Review Decision: Case Number 0002, September 2014.pdf

• The fact that a product is registered with SAHPRA provides people with the assurance that it has been thoroughly evaluated for quality and safety
• According to Government regulations, insect repellents for human use, containing recognised medicinal substances intended for application to the skin, shall be subject to registration in terms of the Registration of Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. (Act 101 of 1965)⁷
• Because Tabard is a registered Schedule 0 medicine you can be sure that it works
• This is particularly important to keep in mind if the insect repellent you need is intended to ward off mosquitoes in a malaria risk area⁸

⁷19780630 – Call up notice – insect repellents.pdf – [and] SAHPRA Registration of medicines General Information 2.01_General information_ Jul19_v10.pdf (2.6 – When a product should be registered – page 5)

⁸SmarterTravel website, (Accessed June 5 2019, at www.smartertravel.com/natural-mosquito-repellent-bug-spray) Avital Andrews’ interview with University of California Davis, entomologist Walter Leal:”If you choose to go with a natural bug spray over DEET, do so with the knowledge that you’re taking more of a chance of getting bitten”

According to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine: “This repellent (DEET) has been subjected to more scientific and toxicological scrutiny than any other repellent substance.” It has a remarkable safety profile after over 50 years of of use and around 8 billion human applications. The study concludes that when applied with common sense, DEET-based repellents can be expected to provide safe, as well as long lasting repellent effect.<sup>9

9</sup>Fradin MS, Day JF (July 2002). “Comparative efficacy of insect repellents against mosquito bites”. The New England Journal of Medicine. 347 (1): 13 – 8. “This repellent (DEET) has been subjected to more scientific and toxicological scrutiny than any other repellent substance.” It has a remarkable safety profile after over 40 years of of use and around 8 billion human applications. The study concludes that when applied with common sense, DEET-based repellents can be expected to provide safe, as well as long lasting repellent effect.

• A very common misconception is there are natural alternatives that work as effectively as DEET. The truth is they don’t.¹⁰ In some cases, lemon eucalyptus may come close, but it’s also a synthesized plant oil, which is still considered to be a chemical
• Another synthetic ingredient is known as IR3535 (Ethyl butylacetylaminopropionate) which is sometimes described by as a natural ingredient, but it clearly is also a chemical¹¹
• Non-synthesized plant oils such as lemongrass, cedar, citronella, peppermint, lavender, etc. are not regulated for safety or effectiveness in South Africa. Internationally they are considered less effective and need to be re-applied far more often than a repellent containing DEET)¹²
• There is also no scientific proof that ‘natural’ repellents are effective against all types of mosquitoes
• It is known that ‘natural’ repellents are less effective, and in some cases of no use at all in protecting people from the mosquito species that carry malaria. Natural oils have a relatively shorter active life and at best provide a repellent effect against a limited number of species for up to 3 hours.¹³
• Wrist bands impregnated with either 9.5% DEET or 25% citronella (by weight) only provided protection, on average, for between 12 to 18 seconds¹⁴

¹⁰SmarterTravel website, (Accessed June 5 2019, at www.smartertravel.com/natural-mosquito-repellent-bug-spray) Avital Andrews’ interview with University of California Davis, entomologist Walter Leal: “If you choose to go with a natural bug spray over DEET, do so with the knowledge that you’re taking more of a chance of getting bitten”
¹¹WebMD (Accessed September 15 2020 at www.webmd.com/allergies/alternative-mosquito-repellents) Article: ‘Natural Mosquito Repellents’ by Hedy Marks, medically reviewed by Netha Pathak, MD on September 15, 2020. “IR3535 is considered ‘natural’ because it is structurally related to a naturally occurring chemical.”
¹²SmarterTravel website, (Accessed June 5 2019, at www.smartertravel.com/natural-mosquito-repellent-bug-spray) Avital Andrews’ interview with University of California Davis, entomologist Walter Leal: “One major problem with some ‘natural’ repellents is the so-called complete protection time (CPT). They work for a short duration but don’t last long enough.”
¹³SmarterTravel website, (Accessed June 5 2019, at www.smartertravel.com/natural-mosquito-repellent-bug-spray) Avital Andrews’ interview with University of California Davis, entomologist Walter Leal: “People shouldn’t expect these natural insectrepellents to work for longer than about an hour, or for them to be as effective as DEET.”
¹⁴Fradin MS, Day JF (July 2002). “Comparative efficacy of insect repellents against mosquito bites”. The New England Journal of Medicine. 347 (1): 13 – 8 “Repellent-impregnated wristbands, containing either 9.5 percent DEET or 25 percent citronella (by weight), protected the wearer for only 12 to 18 seconds, on average.”