Kava sales fall after liver damage reports

By ANGELA GREGORY health reporter

Bad publicity linking kava to liver disease is numbing the New Zealand market for the sedative herbal extract.

Suppliers have noticed a sharp decrease in demand after reports from Europe suggested products derived from the medicinal plant had caused widespread liver damage.

Kava is extracted from the bark or root of the medicinal plant Piper methysticum. Its traditional use in the Pacific Islands has extended to Western countries for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.

Kava Zone director Maria Robins said sales were down by at least 40 per cent in the past six months.

The Auckland company manufactures and distributes kava powder and lozenges sourced from Vanuatu.

Maria Robins said the growers were feeling the most pain.

For some kava was their sole source of cash income, used for school and medical fees.

Maria Robins said she had been told some children were not being allowed to sit exams as their parents could not afford the outstanding school fees.

She was disappointed at the effects of the liver-scare publicity as any links had yet to be substantiated. The only known cases had involved excessive doses of kava or associated alcohol use.

"All our packaging has recommended daily doses that are far below international standards recommended daily amounts. It is a great pity that there appears to have been a panic reaction to what are unsubstantiated claims."

Maria Robins said kava was a valuable natural remedy for stress and anxiety.

She said it was interesting to note that the German Commission E, the Government appointed body to examine herbal and traditional medicines, formed the opposite view of the German regulatory body BfArM which was concerned about kava.

Healtheries managing director Sarah Kennedy said their sales of kava capsules, sold to reduce anxiety, had fallen by 25 per cent in the past year.

Food Standards Australia and New Zealand was keeping a watching brief on overseas research.

Herald feature: Health