Keeping self-care products safe
Federal officials hold public meeting on regulation of over-the-counter goods such as vitamins and supplements
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Making sure over-the-counter health care products are safe and advertised honestly was the focus of a Health Canada forum last week.
Ottawa-based Health Canada officials Amanda Moir, left, and Matthew Bown were at the Explorer Hotel Thursday for a public meeting to gather input on how to best regulate over-the-counter health-care
products. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Ottawa-based officials from the federal agency came to the city to hear from the public on how best to modernize its over-the-counter product regulations.
These products range from pain relievers to vitamins to sunscreen to toothpaste and even cosmetic goods such as lipstick.
According to Matthew Bown, senior policy adviser with Health Canada, different types of self-care products can appear to be very similar and are often presented in the same way on store shelves.
He added a new approach is being proposed to require health claims on self-care product labels be supported by evidence and give Health Canada the authority to recall any product that may pose a danger to Canadians.
"There was a spate of recent incidents regarding undeclared allergens in a (vitamin) product," he told Yellowknifer.
"So for people who had severe allergies to milk and dairy products and the product had dairy in it even though it said it didn't."
Nobody died from this incident, he said, adding it could have caused problems such as intestinal issues or anaphylactic shock.
Bown said recent surveys show approximately 79 per cent of Canadians are using self-care products like vitamins and supplements.
Amanda Moir, a Health Canada director who also came to Yellowknife for the meeting, said the goal of the new regulations is not to remove self-care products from store shelves.
Rather it's to ensure consumers are making a wise choice before
they purchase the items.
"Right now we have products like shampoos where some are cosmetic, some are natural health products and some are regulated as over-the-counter drugs," Moir said.
"We're looking to modernize our approach."
Yellowknife naturopath Dr. Nicole Redvers was among a handful of people who gave their input to federal officials at the forum.
She said in her practice she uses remedies like herbs, traditional Chinese medicine and nutrition products.
"All these products should be screened for safety but also for their ingredients and quality control," she said.
Redvers said consumers should not be left to trust product manufacturers or distributors as the sole people responsible for safety and quality control.
"I'm very picky," she said. "If I am going to prescribe something for my patients I have to have 100 per cent confidence all the way to the end of the supply chain that it's going to be contaminant-free and what it says on the bottle actually is in the bottle."
Redvers said the lack of regulation is the main reason she does not usually recommend over-the-counter health-care products
to her patients.
Health Canada officials said the public consultation process will continue with stops in other Canadian
cities. It is not clear exactly when the new regulations
will take effect.
