Natural supplements are not drugs. Doctors do not study food

Stop our government from putting forward a bill that would make natural supplements be viewed as drugs which would really escalate the price and as we know medical doctors do not study the nutrients in the body that build tissue etc. There is a letter already provided on a link below from a governing health body CHFA. The information below is provided from the IONC website, an organization I belong to – the whole process will take less than a minute as they describe. Time sensitive proposal!

There is a concerning new proposal from Health Canada suggesting that a wide variety of natural health products (NHPs) should be regulated in accordance with the same rules as listed pharmaceutical drugs. Such a change will increasing regulate the use and availability of the natural products we use and trust.

At the moment, Canada boasts of the world’s most robust frameworks for regulating natural products, from vitamins to herbal remedies. This protective process is based on 53 recommendations from the Standing Committee on Health in combination with months of consultations with consumer groups, government agencies, and international regulators.

Current laws require that Health Canada approve all NHPs before they can be sold to consumers. As part of this process, NHP companies are obliged to provide evidence (such as clinical trial data or peer reviewed studies) to support any health claims.

The proposed new regulations, which were composed after only six weeks of consultation and a brief consumer survey, would treat some NHPs the same as drugs. Since the process for drug approval is so much more complex, it is much costlier, and those extra submission expenses get passed to the consumer. As a result, should this proposal pass, the community’s access to safe, effective, high-quality natural products would be impacted on a very broad scale.

This concern is reflected in the sentiments of The Canadian Health Food Association, which stated: “This proposal is truly trying to fix a system that is not broken and will be a step backward instead of forward. Our current regulations take into account the unique properties and low-risk nature of [natural health] products.”

The IONC fully supports the efforts of the Canadian Health Food Association to communicate disagreement with Health’s Canada’s direction in this matter. To help keep NHPs accessible, we are asking for your assistance: Please visit the CHFA website at chfa.ca and fill out their #NHPsAreNotDrugs letter. The whole process should take less than a minute of your time. Thank you!

Disclaimer

While close attention was given to the accuracy of information in this article, the author accepts neither responsibility nor liability to any person with respect to injury, damage, loss or any circumstances involving alleged causes directly or indirectly related to the information in this article. The sole purpose is to educate and broaden ones awareness. This information is not meant to replace medical advice or services provided by a health care professional.