Pick a condom, (almost) any condom

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Most condoms work just fine. We know this because those advocates extraordinaire at Consumer Reports will stop at nothing -- nothing -- to protect American buyers of stuff. This time, they’ve tested latex condoms (20 varieties to be exact) to ensure they measure up in terms of strength, reliability and leakage.

(If you’re more interested in the chemicals that may be leaching into your food, they also weighed in on the amount of bisphenol A in a variety of products. Today’s story, ‘Consumer Group Finds Elevated BPA Levels in Range of Foods,’ says the substance was found in some foods labeled ‘BPA free.’)

Back to the condoms. ... Nineteen of them performed as they should when subjected to various inflation, pressure and submersion tests. And seven of them got the rare perfect score.

As for the one that didn’t perform as it should, the Night Light Glow in the Dark condom had more holes than it should have, the report says. But it did indeed glow.

The full report will appear in the December issue of Consumer Reports (the Electronics Issue). Here’s the Consumer Reports blog on the matter, and ABC News did a story on the condom testing process.

And here’s some advice from Avert.org on how to use a condom -- complete with suggested responses to a partner reluctant to do so.

-- Tami Dennis