* @return a utf-8 encoded string [STRING]
*/
function charset_encode_utf_8 ($source) {
+
+ // don't run though encoding function, if there is no encoded characters
+ if (! preg_match("'&#'",$source) ) return $source;
+
$utf8Str = '';
$entityArray = explode ("&#", $source);
$size = count ($entityArray);