Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (Canada)
Contact: timesc@interlink.bc.ca
Pubdate: Sat, 28 Feb 1998

SUPPLEMENTS STILL ONE OF SAFEST BETS

Here's hoping Sleeping Buddha doesn't spark calls for control

It's unfortunate that Deep Cove dance therapist Renata Herberger briefly
became addicted to a drug she hadn't even known she was taking. But what's
equally unfortunate is that the latest revelation about the secret
ingredient in Sleeping Buddha comes just as the health food industry is
poised to find its place in Canada.

After 12 years of wrestling with the federal government over the level of
regulation for vitamins and supplements, industry representatives on an
advisory committee came out of a hearing this week feeling like an
agreement was in the works. The industry wants a separate category created
fortheir products, and Ottawa's standing committee on health seemed
supportive.

And then the Herberger story broke, more than two months after Sleeping
Buddha had been recalled by the federal Health Protection Branch. Local
Vitamin Store owner Bruce Reid says he's no "grassy knollist" but the
timing couldn't have been worse.

Finding a prescription-level drug in an herbal remedy is just the kind of
hammer some regulators have been looking for to drive home laws limiting
easy access to health supplements. While the health-food industry has
argued against supplements being classified as drugs, opponents have argued
that consumers are at risk if they can buy the products off the shelf that
haven't been through the rigors of full testing.

Indeed, there have been some problems. Herbal remedies containing ephedra
caused a handful of deaths in the U.S., and supplements such as melatonin
and the amino acid L- tryptophan - now available only with a prescription -
have been associated with health risks.

But considering the millions of dollars worth of herbs, vitamins and
supplements bought by regular folks across the country, there have been
almost no problems of note. The typical consumer is well-informed and
health-savvy, so much so that tales of misadventure, such as the Herberger
incident are rare enough to create a flurry of media interest.

Compare that to the damage done daily by prescription drugs, highly
regulated and available only through medical doctors. In the U.S., it's
estimated that 140,000 people a year die from the side-effects of
prescription drugs. That's 14 times the combined number of deaths from
street drugs such as cocaine and heroin. If consumers have reason to worry
about what they're swallowing, it's far more prudent to worry about what
they're getting from their doctor than from a health-food store.

Reid says the irony of the Sleeping Buddha incident is that if health-food
industry had the quality assurance program it has long wanted, the product
likely would never made it on to store shelves.

The health-food industry has had to operate on the fringes long enough. We
need a category that is somewhere between "food" and "drug," something
that ensures wary consumers can continue to take the lead in their health
care rather than depending on their doctor to know best.