June 2010 NHP Regulations Update

Many of our customers have recently wondered why the multi-ingredient products subject to elimination in 2010 by Health Canada (HC) are still available. Though there are several reasons, one of the main ones is Public Pressure! The public complaints that have poured in from around the country to our M.P.s, and to HC bureaucrats have worked, at least for now, in getting the agency to further stretch-out their decisions on these products. And many of these letters and complaints came from Edmonton.

Of course, the fact that taking all unapproved products off the market would have dramatically affected pharmacies also had a lot to do with it, but what we’re doing is making an impact, so let’s keep it up!

Just so everyone is clear, Health Canada is still eliminating products. They are just doing it slowly so not too many people get upset all at once.

Two of the newest casualties are as follows:

1. Natural Factors - Quercetin with bioflavonoids
2. Nature’s Way - Capsicool (cayenne mixed with glucomannans to reduce the burning sensation.)

So for all the allergy sufferers who have gotten good results for decades with this quercetin product….you are out of luck…. The NHP license application for it got denied, and the product now has to be reformulated. And as for those of you who were happy with the cayenne product, you should be aware that glucomannan is good for many other things, including lowering blood sugar and insulin, and therefore may have some unintended effects….even if they are beneficial, and could be easily addressed on the label.

Meanwhile, Health Canada just made it legal to add caffeine to alcoholic beverages, so long as the caffeine comes from a natural source. So while products to help with allergy and circulation are being knocked off the market, things to help a person stay alert so they can drink more alcohol are made legal.

This is completely typical of Health Canada legislation, which seldom reflects actual concern for our health. Rather, HC caters to large vested interests. Not surprisingly, the first product to receive an NHP number was Red Bull!

The Natural Health Product Regulations are “pharmaceuticalizing” safe, effective NHPs, and they able to do so because in 2004, Health Canada moved NHPs into a subclass of “Drugs”. Pharmaceuticals are the other subclass. This is contrary to what many of you have been told by your M.P.s, who are simply ignorant of the facts.

PLEASE SIGN AND SEND IN the new “Letter of Response to the M.P.s”, now available at our stores… 

It makes it very clear that NHPs are being regulated as “Drugs”, and that this is what is allowing Health Canada to shrink our NHP options. You see, as “Drugs” natural products are regulated based on what they are USED FOR instead of what they ARE.

To clarify, consider the example of cinnamon. If you buy a can of cinnamon, and sprinkle it on your food for flavoring, it is considered a “Food”. But if you take that same cinnamon, put it in a capsule, and swallow it to improve your blood-sugar and insulin, well that’s a whole different ballgame, because you’ve just created a “Drug”. But take that same capsule, open it up and sprinkle it on your porridge because you like the flavor, and it becomes a food again. Same cinnamon – all that changed was what you were using it for. 

Regardless of how safe a substance is, once it’s in a capsule and USED for a therapeutic purpose, it becomes a “Drug”. And this is the game that Health Canada uses to control our health options. This is also why they were so intent on moving NHPs into the “Drug” category, despite the massive public protests against it. By employing the USE-BASED definition, they can exert direct control on NHPs, or whatever you ingest to change your health.

Having just returned from this year’s Functional Medicine Symposium in San Diego, I can guarantee that most of you would be furious if you knew the number of extremely high quality, effective NHPs that Canadians no longer have access to because of the Natural Health Product Regulations. I’m talking about thousands and thousands of products representing major advances in health support for a myriad of serious chronic conditions.

Meanwhile, Health Canada claims to be pursuing these regulations to make sure Canada’s NHPs are safe, and of “high enough” quality. In reality these Regulations are providing an extremely effective barrier that is keeping these products out!

Why? In both the United States and Canada, a significant number of natural product manufacturers will only sell to a company if their products are going to be recommended by a knowledgeable or licensed professional. Piles of solid scientific evidence exist for the ingredients in such U.S. products. Yet, because NHPs are classified as “Drugs” in Canada, to be sold here an application for each product must be submitted. Compiling these applications is an extremely work intensive, expensive process, and there is no guarantee it will be successful. So most American companies simply don’t bother. And for those that do, often their most effective products are blocked anyway.

Hence, in the United States the science of natural health care has marched on and is making major progress. In Canada, the Natural Health Product Regulations have ground innovation to a virtual halt, and have resulted in major healing potential being withheld from Canadians. Make no mistake, unless we continue to be even MORE active, and MORE vocal, our access to NHPs will continue to be eroded by these Regulations.

Not surprisingly, the new amendments will actually make it easier for Health Canada to get rid of products, by blocking them at the border or identifying those without an exemption number on store shelves. Just like so many of their past actions, Health Canada’s latest amendments are simply designed to make everyone relax, and go back to sleep, because the pressure is off. But in reality, this is just their latest smokescreen. Part of their never-ending, long-term strategy to streamline the selection of NHPs that are available in Canada, and hand over control of the industry to big business interests.

So SEND IN YOUR LETTERS!

Download letter , print and mail to:

______________________M.P.
House of Commons
Parliament Buildings
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6

For more information or resources, please visit one of our stores, www.suspendandreview.com, www.nhppa.org, or check out the Opti Blog for future Health Freedom Updates.

John H. Biggs BSc, NCP
Optimum Health Vitamins