Push to revive kava export trade

An independent study of European import restrictions imposed against kava on health grounds shows they were excessively cautious, says the South Pacific Forum.

Some European regulators banned the use of kava in herbal medicines in 2001, on the grounds that it could cause liver disease.

German authorities reported 24 spontaneous cases of suspected adverse drug events affecting the liver, resulting in liver failure, four transplants and one death.

The authorities said that in five cases, the damage was done after people took herbal remedies that contained only kava extracts.

In Switzerland, one in four people who suffered adverse reactions needed a liver transplant.

But forum secretary-general Noel Levi said from Fiji that its study had shown there was no basis for the market recalls and restrictions, which had crippled Pacific Island kava exports to Europe.

"Pacific Island communities have safely used kava for hundreds of years in its natural form," he said.

"The study reinforces our faith in kava as a social and ceremonial drink that is a major economic item in our region."

The issue of whether kava is a "safe" food ingredient has taken a high profile since Northern Hemisphere companies decided to change the way it has traditionally been used by Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines.

Traditional methods of preparation involve the fresh or dried roots and stems of a shrub, Piper methysticum, being chewed or pounded and mixed with water to make a drink, which can be used as a mild sedative, local anaesthetic and anti-anxiety treatment.

Around six of the 18 known "kavalactones" or drug compounds in the plant produce these calming effects.

But Northern Hemisphere manufacturers prepared commercial extracts standardised to contain 30 per cent kavalactones - compared with the normal range of 3 per cent to 20 per cent found in roots - and used them in alternative medicines.

In New Zealand and many other Pacific nations, the official view of the consumption of kava is that heavy use could cause toxic effects, such as dry, scaly skin, but there were no reports of irreversible liver damage.

The kava study, by Dr Joerg Gruenwald, was commissioned by the European Union's Centre for the Development of Enterprise at the request of the Pacific Forum secretariat last July.

Following the ban in Europe, kava exports from countries such as Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu collapsed, costing them millions of dollars in export revenue. The exporters have since tried to make a distinction between the use of kava in its natural form and the refined compounds and kava by-products offered by the pharmaceutical industry.

The study has suggested that a kava committee be established to try to regain market authorisations for kava products.

The proposed committee would comprise key stakeholders in the Pacific Islands and Europe who would try to restore the image of kava in overseas markets.

A meeting of stakeholders is being planned for mid-July with the assistance of ProInvest - an arm of the Centre for the Development of Enterprise based in Brussels that promotes investment and technology to private enterprise.

The meeting will draw up strategies to address the negative publicity.

It will complement the scientific analysis of the plant started by the Pacific Health Research Council, based at the Fiji School of Medicine.

Transtasman food regulators trying to draw up standards for the consumption of kava have proposed to ban its use in New Zealand in dietary supplements, bringing New Zealand manufacturers and distributors into line with their Australian counterparts.



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

New Zealand's food safety officials warned last August against consuming kava in dietary supplements after an Australian voluntary recall of all complementary medicines containing the plant.

The Australian action followed the death from liver failure of a 51-year-old woman in Melbourne who had been using kava supplements for four months.

New Zealand's Food Safety Authority said at the time that many of the same products being voluntarily withdrawn in Australia were still being sold here.

It said there was no way to tell which products contained the supplements without a register of dietary supplements.

- NZPA