A recent Letter to the Editor (
"Silly to pull cinnamon off shelves" in the Edmonton Journal October 4, 2010) by Jeff Pearson should be understood for what it actually means. Cinnamon was pulled off the shelf.
Currently, literally thousands of natural supplements are being denied Health Canada's (HC) DIN numbers and being pulled off the shelf because they do not meet HC's "new and improved" requirements.
First, HC has no right to impose requirements on an industry that Canadians have come to rely on to stay healthy and often used as first choice to avoid drugs. Since natural health supplements have no disastrous side-effects (like liver damage or increased blood pressure), they are the first choice for Canadians who tire of the fast-fix drugs that doctors administer. We are coming to understand that although drugs are necessary, they do NOT cure. They mask symptoms.
Second, and more importantly, as per Jeff Pearson's letter to the editor, is that fact that HC requires natural health supplement manufacturers to meet pharmaceutical standard research to prove the claims made of a product. If HC knew anything about natural supplements versus drugs, they would understand that it is impossible for such research to be conducted by the natural health industry.
Why?
You cannot patent cinnamon. It is a common substance. Therefore, any company that spends hundreds of thousands of dollars and years on dedicated research cannot patent the results and recover costs like pharmaceutical companies do. Everyone would have claim to cinnamon and the company that paid the research bill is out of luck.
Health Canada is aware of this yet insists on this requirement to receive a DIN number.
The end result is that I, and the many people like me who use supplements, have been denied the right to decide for myself whether or not a supplement works for me. Not all natural supplements work the same on every individual. Most find relief, some don't. That is not unlike drugs where one person reacts differently to a drug taken by another. But I am intelligent enough to decide what has helped me and not.
This is a case of HC denying us the right to make our own decisions about our health and what works for us. It is purely government taking over our rights to access natural health supplements. It is an insidious method of denying Canadians the right to make their own choices. All HC should do is ensure that the ingredients are listed on the label and the manufacturing of the supplement is done in a laboratory standard facility - clean. That's it. Otherwise, let ME decide what I think or feel or believe is good for me.
Research done by those in the natural health industry goes unpublished in medical journals, but that does not mean it is NOT available. HC relies on Canadians to not be aware of this, and it is up to the journalists to probe this issue. Just as journalists fight for freedom of speech, so do those who rely on natural health supplements rely on their freedom to choose.
See the video Food Matters in regards to research.
Read about the 10 Health Benefits of Cinnamon