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New Legislation Supports Natural Health Products in Canada

May 7th, 2008

In recent days I have received a flood of emails, letters and phone calls regarding the introduction of new government legislation, Bill C-51, which proposes to amend the Food and Drug Act. Many constituents are concerned about the legislation’s impact on Natural Health Products (NHPs).

As someone who believes that natural remedies offer the potential to tremendously boost the health of Canadians, I understand their need to understand how this Bill will affect their purchasing and health choices.

Contrary to a common misperception, Bill C-51 is actually not focussed solely upon NHPs. It is a Bill designed to modernize decades-old legislation for all therapeutic products which includes drugs, veterinary drugs, medical devices, cells, tissues, organs, blood, vaccines and NHPs. A lot has changed in medical science and technology, yet the legislation and regulations governing it have not.

In fact, the most modern regulations are those related to NHPs because they were established in 2004. Prior to that date NHPs could only be regulated as either a food, under which they couldn’t be billed as means to improve health, or as a drug, under which they faced very strict approvals. Some examples of products that were granted licenses and market access under these NHP regulations and which were previously not approved include melatonin (for sleep), glucosamine sulphate (for joint pain) and 5HTP (for reducing pain, headaches and aiding in sleep).

Given that NHPs regulations are so new, Bill C-51 will not actually affect the way in which NHPs are regulated in Canada – it merely enshrines them in legislation. Canadians will continue to have access to NHPs that are safe, effective and of high quality. NHPs will continue to fall under their own unique set of regulations for safety, efficacy and quality and will continue to be appropriate to the relatively low risk profile of their class of products.

What Bill C-51 does do is bring Canada up to par with other international regulators. Most companies, including NHP manufacturers, do comply with requests for product recalls. However, without this Bill, if companies choose NOT to recall, Canada will remain unable to enforce a recall even in situations when there are clear health and safety concerns.

The legislation also enhances the government’s ability to ensure that consumers have all of the information on a product they need to make an informed decision and to ensure that manufacturing sites are clean and that a bottle or package actually contains the NHP you believe you’ve purchased.

Under the NHP regulations Health Canada has addressed a number of such concerns, including incorrect plants being used in Black Cohosh products, an NHP used for relief of the symptoms of menopause, posing toxic liver effects for users.

There must be safeguards and enforcement pertaining to NHPs to ensure the health and safety of Canadians. “Natural” does not automatically mean “safe”.

In the days and weeks to come, Bill C-51 will undergo intense study and debate before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health and I encourage concerned constituents to follow these proceedings at www.parl.gc.ca

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