June 15, 2008
Contents:
- Since 2004, Health Canada's Natural Health Products Regulations Have Forced Over 20,000 Products Off the Canadian Market
- Bisphenol A: Your Last Chance to Submit Comments
- Food Prices: A Boon for Producers, a Buffer for Consumers - Study
- Pomegranate - Nature's Potent Skin Defense
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Since 2004, Health Canada's Natural Health Products Regulations Have Forced Over 20,000 Products Off the Canadian Market
by John BiggsBelow is a list of US companies whose products used to be sold in Canada prior to the 2004 implementation of the Natural Health Product Regulations. Following a seven-year process, in which the number one request of Canadians, by far, was that they wanted increased access to more natural health products, and in which NHPs were supposed to have been given their own category separate from either Foods or Drugs under the Food and Drugs Act, Health Canada came out with the Natural Health Product Regulations. Not only did these regulations classify natural products as drugs without providing the new legislative category, but they were also supposed to protect Canadians' access to NHPs.
As is reflected in the list below, they have had the opposite effect. There are literally multiple thousands of products (20,000 plus) that Canadian stores can no longer get or sell.
Note that this list does not reflect the products that were lost when Canadian companies shortened their pricelist due to the cost of complying with the regulations.
1.Solaray, Kal, and all other products produced by Nutraceutical Inc. - Over 5,000 products offered in their US pricelist. Some of the best products anywhere in North America. Sold in Canada for more than ten years when discontinued. Did everything Health Canada asked of them for four years before having their site license denied by Health Canada. Gave up in frustration as they couldn't spend any more money on legal fees.
2. HerbPharm - Producer of hundreds of herbal tinctures. Sold in Canada for more than ten years when discontinued after the NHPD regs came into effect.
3. Gaia Herbals - Producers of hundreds of herbal tinctures. Sold in Canada for more than 10 years when discontinued after the NHPD regs came into effect.
4. Allergy Research Products - Over 650 extremely high quality natural products of all sorts. Sold in Canada for more than ten years when discontinued. Will no longer ship to Canada.
5. Country Life - Hundreds of high quality natural products in tablets and capsules. Sold for more than 10 years in Canada when discontinued because of the regulations.
6. Source Naturals - 2,300 products in two lines representing a full range of nutraceuticals. Will not ship to Canada period because of all the shipments held at the border.
7. Vitamin Research Products - More than 400 innovative, well researched products that are flagged and regularly denied entry at the border.
8. Jarrow products - More than 600 well researched, high quality products. Submitted product license applications to Health Canada, but gave up in frustration with shipments being blocked at the border.
9. Herbasway - Producers of green tea products. No longer available due to the regulations.
10. Yogi Teas - These are just herbal teas. Most are no longer available due to the regulations.
11. Sweet Wheat - High quality wheat grass products. No longer available due to the regulations.
12. Bernard Jensen Products - Available in Canada since the 1970s. No longer sold due to the regulations.
13. Organic Essentials - Organic tampons. Disallowed because their applicator was considered a medical device by Health Canada.
14. Zand Herbals - Hundreds of herbal products sold in Canada since the 1980s. Pulled out of Canada after the regs went into effect.
15. Life Extension Products - Hundreds of extremely well researched NHPs no longer allowed into Canada for commercial sale.
16. Dr. Christophers Original Formulas - More than 200 herbal formulas sold in Canada since the 1970s. No longer available because of the regulations.
17. Vaxa - No longer allowed across the border due to the regulations.
18. Robert Grey Cleansing products - Sold in Canada since the 1980s. Have pulled out of Canada due to the regulations.
19. Natrol - Over 1000 products. Sold in Canada until the regulations went into effect.
20. Houston Nutraceuticals - Enzymes used to improve digestion in kids. Available until the regulations came into effect. Then all commercial shipments were refused entry into Canada.
***This is just a partial list of the products Canadian stores can no longer get, products that they used to sell, prior to the regulations.***
There are dozens of long standing Canadian distributors of NHPs that are experiencing great economic hardship because Health Canada is stopping their shipments at the Canada - US border, for any variety of reasons. These are mostly products for which product license applications have already been submitted to Health Canada.
In addition, when the regulations came into effect, almost every Canadian NHP supplier shortened their pricelist (sometimes dramatically) because of the cost involved in submitting the applications for licensing each product. This is a drug-style approval system that was never supposed to be applied to NHPs, as per the Expert Advisory Committee, the Standing Committee on Health, and Parliament. They mandated that Health Canada should produce regulations that reflected the inherent safety and low risk levels of these products. As you can see, they have done the opposite.
John Biggs is the owner of Optimum Health in Edmonton, AB. www.optimumhealthvitamins.com
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Bisphenol A: Your Last Chance to Submit Comments
by Environmental Defence CanadaWednesday, June 18 is the last day for you and your friends to make an impact on the federal government's decision to regulate the toxic chemical, bisphenol A (BPA). On this day the 60-day comment period on BPA closes and the government will begin reviewing the comments submitted by the Canadian public, stakeholders, and industry.
Based on Health Canada's proposal published on April 18, it seems that the government is only interested in regulating BPA in baby bottles and infant formula. In doing so, they will be disregarding the evidence that the lining inside food cans, such as the can of soup in your kitchen cupboard, leach BPA into the contained food. A recent study by CTV and the Globe and Mail showed that higher levels of BPA were found leaching from foods cans then were detected leaching from baby bottles.
Where there is a question of potential harm to humans and the environment, as is true of BPA, we should be taking a precautionary approach instead of asking what level of risk is acceptable- a can of soup or a reusable sports bottle.
Voice your concern on BPA today! Send a message to the federal government urging them to ban BPA in food and beverage containers!
More at https://secure.environmentaldefence.ca/takeaction/BPA_Letter_Companies/
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Food Prices: A Boon for Producers, a Buffer for Consumers - Study
by Statistics CanadaCanada is uniquely positioned to weather the storm of sharply-rising prices for grains and rice, and is even poised to profit from the current surge, according to a study released today in the Canadian Economic Observer.
Overall, consumer prices for food consumed at home in Canada have risen only 1.2 percent in the 12 months ending in April 2008. Food prices increased 7.1 percent in the European Union and 5.9 percent in the United States during the same period. Countries in Asia with rice-based diets are experiencing the fastest increase in food costs, as the price of rice doubled early in 2008.
While consumers in Canada face higher prices for bread and cereal products, they have been insulated at the checkout counter from higher overall grocery bills by stable or falling prices for most other products, the study found.
More at
http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080612/d080612a....
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Pomegranate - Nature's Potent Skin Defense
by Karen BowersA native plant of Northern Africa, pomegranate is an ancient exotic fruit that has captured the attention of medical scientists. It demonstrates amazing UV protective qualities while defending the DNA in the stem cell. It appears that pomegranate is exceptional in that it contains a rare and important polyphenol called ellagic acid. Studies have shown that it is a powerful free radical scavenger that is capable of defending against cancer.
Pomegranate is effective in increasing the body's glutathione thus increasing our ability to restore - even after severe UV damage. Glutathione is instrumental and in fact needed by the mitochondria to bring about a healing response and required to repair the DNA to defend against cancer.
Modern day scientists such as Dr. Howard Murad have been studying the effects of topical pomegranate since 1990, but he certainly was not the first to detect its impressive healing abilities. Pomegranate is considered to be one of the oldest natural remedies, dating back to Egypt 1552 B.C. Recovered medical documents cite more than 700 remedies for treating disease and pomegranate was one of the most popular ingredients in the formulas.
In the fall of 2003, researchers at the university of Wisconsin evaluated pomegranate's prevention of skin tumours by comparing topical application of pomegranate extract on neonatal mice against TPA (12-o-tetradecanoylphorbo-13-acetate), a strong promoter of chemically induced skin cancer.
The mice that were pretreated with topical pomegranate showed substantially reduced tumour incidence and lower tumour body burden while 30 percent didn't develop tumours at all. The mice that were not pretreated with pomegranate all developed tumours. Research from South Dakota University and UCLA has reported similar results.
This research has piqued the interest of skin care scientists and the effects have led to the development of several products and procedures to benefit our quest for lasting beauty. Pomegranate has shown that this powerfully packed antioxidant source can have a critical impact on sun protection. The Dermal Plane Pomegranate Peel promotes topical molecules to penetrate by means of epidermal leveling and it is proven for repairing areas of tissue while supporting the life span of DNA, preventing cell irregularities that could lead to cancer.
The protective and healing properties of pomegranate are extremely important today as the rate of skin cancer is increasing faster than any other cancer among Western countries. Continued research may be the key for added skin defense against disease and aging.
Karen V. Bowers has 33 years of experience throughout Canada, US and Europe. If you would like to learn more about medically advanced treatments and products, visit her website at www.newvisage.ca.