Agency looks at banning use of kava in foods

Transtasman food regulators trying to draw up standards for kava consumption in New Zealand say it may be banned in dietary supplements.

This would bring New Zealand manufacturers and distributors into line with their Australian counterparts, says the Canberra-based Food Standards Australia New Zealand agency.

New Zealand food companies are legally allowed, under dietary supplements regulations, to make foods containing kava, but Australian manufacturers cannot.

"This results in considerable consumer and public health confusion, due to inconsistencies ... and lack of harmonisation between Australia and New Zealand," the agency said.

Another option, to broaden permission for kava to be used in food on both sides of the Tasman, would also "harmonise" regulations.

But, the agency said, "this change may not ensure a safe food supply in Australia or New Zealand, given the recent concerns in Europe of liver toxicity associated with kava use, and is likely to be inconsistent in maintaining public health and safety".

New Zealand food safety officials warned in August against consuming kava in dietary supplements - eight months after health authorities played down action taken against similar products in Germany, France and Britain.

The warning followed a voluntary recall in Australia of all "complementary medicines" containing kava after the death of a 51-year-old woman in Melbourne from liver failure.

She had been using kava supplements for four months.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority's principal public health medicine adviser, Dr Bob Boyd, said many of the products being withdrawn in Australia were still being sold here.

But because kava was legally sold as a "dietary supplement" in New Zealand, there was no register of who was marketing what products.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand said few food-type dietary supplements containing kava were sold in New Zealand, though it had been found in a sweet.

It was unclear whether the kava sweet was manufactured under food regulations or as a dietary supplement, or was simply illegal, but it was not exported to Australia.

The issue of whether kava is a safe food ingredient has taken a high profile since Northern Hemisphere companies decided to improve on the traditional use of kava by Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines.

Traditional preparation involved the fresh or dried roots and stems of Piper methysticum being chewed or pounded and mixed with water to make a drink that can be a mild sedative, a local anaesthetic and an anti-anxiety treatment.

These effects are produced by about six of the 18 known kavalactones, or drug compounds in the plant.

But modern manufacturers have prepared commercial extracts standardised to contain 30 per cent kavalactones - compared with the 3 per cent to 20 per cent found in roots - for use in alternative medicines.

In New Zealand and Australia the official view of traditional consumption of kava as a drink has been that heavy use can cause mild toxic effects, such as dry, scaly skin.

There have been no reports of irreversible liver damage.

Food Standards Australia New Zealand is investigating safety of kava use, regulatory options, the use of kava in foods, and distinctions between traditional use and commercial extracts.

- NZPA

Further reading
nzherald.co.nz/health