Are the new regulations helping retailers

Not when NOW Foods discontinues 53 NHPs due to the regulations' inappropriate standards of evidence, says retailer John Biggs

As a natural health retailer, the variety and effectiveness of the products I have to offer my customers largely determines how much I can help them, and how successful I will be. The NHP Regulations have been very effective at reducing the number, complexity, and effectiveness of Canada's NHPs. When Health Canada classified NHPs as "DRUGS", it meant there were now two classes: patentable synthetic pharmaceuticals, and non-patentable NHPs, (vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc.). Despite being non-patentable, NHPs were assigned a definition virtually identical to that of pharmaceuticals. All NHPs were then forced to make a claim, and substantiate it with human evidence. This involves a detailed, costly application submitted to Health Canada for each product.
This application requirement eliminated well over 20,000 imported American products (documented) that Canadian retailers used to be able to sell. If you add to this the latest totals of 17,600 application rejections, 23,889 NPN numbers awarded, and approximately 10,000 products still waiting for licences, you get what we have always maintained: that when the Regulations started in 2004, there were approximately 70,000 NHPs on the Canadian market. Even if all 10,000 products in queue are approved, Canadian retailers are still left with less than half of the NHPs they had. How can this be construed as positive?
Furthermore, prior to 2004, most NHPs were still classified as Foods. But because there are over 80,000 different substances in the human diet, formal studies regarding effectiveness in humans may not exist.
So, if a company sells a product that is effective, as indicated by long-term, robust sales, (e.g. Oregano oil), it has three options:
1) Prove that the product works with pre-existing human evidence...which may not exist,
2) Perform your own trial, which is too expensive, or,
3) Discontinue the product.
Therefore, what are companies like NOW doing? They are discontinuing products that they foresee they will not be able to get licences for, due to lack of human evidence, even though there may be ample evidence in other forms such as animal or test-tube studies. Or they are simplifying their complex combinations so they conform to the regulations, even though they will likely be less effective.
And for products like oregano oil, for which no licenses have been issued to date, discontinuing them is the only option that is financially feasible...and on the other hand, doing so will put several companies out of business.
Natural Health Products should be removed from the "DRUG" category, and given a true third category like they were promised.
Retailer John Biggs BSc. NCP is the owner of Optimum Health Vitamins in Edmonton, AB

Why we need government regulations for natural health products

We used to regulate vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients with specific health claims, as over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. The reasons are as follows:
1. To insure that the specific claim for that product was supported by rational, scientific or traditional methodologies.
2. To guarantee – by independent testing – that the ingredients in the bottle are the ingredients on the label at the claimed amounts and free of unwanted contaminates.
3. To insure that the product is safe when consumed as directed.
Consumer has rights, expectations
These conditions have not changed; if we sell a product for a specific condition, the consumer has a right to expect this health benefit without creating health problems. Further, if the consumer pays money for specific amounts of these ingredients then the consumer – and the retailer – should know that they are actually providing value. So, who is to oversee the mechanisms to provide these assurances? I say some type of government regulations.
The Natural Health Products Act separates our products from Foods (exempting them from Codex-like scrutiny) and Drugs. Currently, I think that the biggest problem with NHPs and the National Health Products Directorate (NHPD) is the ponderous evolution of a new bureaucracy with virtually no funding. The definitions and standards of evidence originally envisioned and included in the wording of the act are rational and consumers can rest assured that any product manufactured and sold under these regulations is safe for consumption, as directed, for the approved health claims.
The primary reasons why the Canadian market hasn't been flooded with the U.S. products we often see advertised are:
1. Historically; imports from the U.S. had a 15 per cent premium due to the value of the Canadian dollar. This is minor in our market which has remarkable price elasticity.
2. American companies have not until very recently (12-18 months) been required to perform any third party testing of their products.
As a consumer, I want to know that the product has some reasonable expectation of doing what I want and I really want my money's worth. As a purveyor of these products, I want to know that they will meet these same basic criteria. Neither consumers nor purveyors have the resources or the time to verify these requirements, but if the manufacturers and importers are required to manufacture to these standards, then we all have a certain comfort in the quality of our products. That is why we have government regulations. •
Bill Reynolds is the former executive director of the Canadian Health Food Association.