Stricter regulation wanted for health supplements

By HELEN TUNNAH

The controversy over suspect health supplements has exposed New Zealand's lack of strict regulations covering alternative medicines, says a leading consumer watchdog.

The Consumers' Institute said dietary supplements needed to be better controlled because they were marketed as being good for people when health benefits may be questionable or unproven.

"We're not happy," said acting chief executive Simon Wilson.

"These are products freely available on supermarket shelves that people buy for medical reasons, but they are not medicines and not registered, and as we've now discovered, they're not even listed anywhere."

Up to one in three New Zealanders uses dietary and health supplements regularly.

New food labelling rules require products to clearly say what is in them, but a phase-in period for the regulations means some could be sold until the end of the year without the contents being disclosed.

Mr Wilson said under Australia's tighter regulatory framework officials could quickly release a list of affected products when the Pan Pharmaceuticals recall began. The lack of registration here meant no such list was quickly available.

Mr Wilson said the Ministry of Health had recently expressed concerns about some Asian herbal medicines, where the ingredients were not clearly labelled.

He said the Consumers' Institute had been lobbying for stricter controls for many years.

"The reason is there's a reality gap. If there's a perception they have medical values, we believe they need to be treated as medicine.

"If you look at any of the advertising for the kinds of products Pan Pharmaceuticals makes, you'll get the clear impression they will improve your health."

He said the complementary medicines business was not a cottage industry but a "very very big industry" operated by large companies, and their products should be treated as medicines, not food.

Health Minister Annette King said she wanted New Zealand to join Australia in a trans-tasman standard for regulating complementary medicines to ensure consumers knew exactly what was being sold.

"That's been my concern. I'm not interested in putting in a regime that drives people out of business. The reason you have regulation is to protect the public."

National Nutritional Foods Association spokesman Bill Bracks said the industry wanted improved standards, but did not want a knee-jerk reaction to the Pan Pharmaceuticals recall to lead to over-regulation.

He said the association did not want a "gross overreaction and unwarranted targeting" of an entire industry.

Much of the industry opposes plans by the Government to adopt the Australian-style of monitoring, arguing it is too strict.