Devolin Column
(August 25)

Natural Health Products

Earlier this week I was pleased to hold an Information Session at the Delta Pinestone in Haliburton focused on Bill C-420’s proposed changes to legislation regarding natural health products. My special guest was the sponsor of C-420, Dr. Colin Carrie, MP (Oshawa).

C-420 will move natural health products (NHP’s) from under the current drug style directorate into the food directorate under the Food and Drugs Act. If passed in Parliament, I believe that C-420 will improve Canadians’ freedom of choice in their personal health care. 

The Bill was originally introduced by Conservative MP James Lunney (Nanaimo-Alberni) in the 37th Parliament and received support from all political parties. Unfortunately it died in committee when the House rose for the last election.

Last fall, Dr. Carrie re-introduced Bill C-420. In March, C-420 passed second reading, again with all party support – something rare for a Private Member’s Bill.

Modernizing the way natural health products are regulated has been an issue many Canadians have advocated over the past decade. Canadians today are constantly adjusting their diets as a way of improving their health. For many, natural health products are instrumental in achieving personal health goals. The existing excess of government controls, licensing, and regulation of such products needs to be modernized and simplified. Regulating natural health products under the purview of Health Canada's food directorate would do just that.

Also, by bringing herbs, dietary supplements and other natural health products under the umbrella of food by definition, consumers are protected from false or misleading claims, and product safety is ensured.

It is widely agreed that natural health products have minimum risk associated with them. I asked the question earlier this week in a local newspaper interview, “When was the last time you heard of someone being admitted to hospital with negative side effects from St. John’s Wort?” In the absence of scientific evidence to the contrary, a long history of human usage is generally sufficient evidence to suggest a product’s safety.

I think it’s important for Canadians to understand that C-420 would require safe manufacturing practices and site inspections at production facilities, because it is important to ensure that what is on the label is in the bottle and that the critical elements of the natural products are in the product.

For example, there are products like calcium that are good for bones. Why should these well known effects be stringently regulated as if they were drugs? When we look at all the different adverse reactions, they appear to be less than 1% of reported adverse reactions.

The section of the Food and Drugs Act that Bill C-420 proposes to amend was adopted in 1934 when there were no known treatments for many diseases and little was known about natural health products. Things have changed a lot since 1934 and it is long overdue that these changes take place. That’s why I supported C-420 when it came to the House.