Equate Triple Antibiotic: As Good as Neosporin but Half the Price

Every time Wal-Mart is the center of discussion it turns into a verbal battle. People say that they drive the smaller stores out the area, hire illegal aliens to work for less and skimp on medical benefits for employees. All of that may be true but the bottom line for me is price. Wal-Mart offers a plethora of products at prices that most other retailers simply can't beat.

They also have their in house products marketed under the Equate label. 90% of the time these are cheaper than the name brand products that they are shelved next to. You will have to read the labels and compare the ingredients but from what I have seen, they are identical. For years I have sworn by Neosporin and it's almost wondrous healing properties. When my local Wal-Mart was sold out of it I grabbed some of the Equate Triple Antibiotic Ointment

I checked the labels when I got home and they both contained the same ingredients; the main ones being Bacitracin, Neomycin Sulfate and Polymyxin B Sulfate. The Neosporin that I usually purchased was about four dollars a tube; the Equate version was less than half that. Even so, there are some things that I don't skimp on so the true test was trying it out on a cut. After two days the Equate product healed about 80% of it.

If the price and performance didn't cinch the deal, seeing the 'value pack' of two one ounce tubes for $3.99 sealed the deal for me. The only thing that I don't like about the individual tubes or the value two pack is that they aren't safety sealed. With all the stories you hear about product tampering, you would think that someone would think to have at least a protective cling wrap around the cap and top section of the tube or on the box.

This is used the same way as most other antibiotic ointments; clean the wound, apply a small amount and bandage. Each one gram unit (the recommended application) contains 400 units of Bacitracin, 3.5 milligrams of Neomycin and 5,000 units of Polymyxin B Sulfate. The expiration date is stamped on the side of the box as well as on the individual tubes. It is manufactured for Wal-Mart by Actavis Mid Atlantic located in Lincolnton North Carolina.