After years of struggling to make its products fit into the Food and Drug Act, the Canadian natural health industry will have an office to call its own.
A new organization is taking shape to regulate natural health products, said Anne Ledger Wilke, director of science for the Canadian Health Food Association, at the Saskatchewan Nutraceutical Network Botanicals and Bioactives meeting in Saskatoon.
Ledger Wilke quoted a 1997 study done by the association, which found 1,700 health product outlets in Canada. That number includes only retailers that specialize in the products, not drugstores or mass retail chains.
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More than half the stores are less than 10 years old, and sell an estimated $680 million in products each year. About 17 percent of these retailers are located in the Prairies.
“Obviously, this is a growth industry. It’s also a very passionate industry,” Ledger Wilke said.
Another study found that seven out of 10 Canadian households used one or more alternative forms of medicine. These numbers were higher in Alberta, where 78 percent of people surveyed said they used them regularly.
“These products are now mainstream, and everybody seems to want them,” said Ledger Wilke.
Attitudes are changing toward natural health products as Canadians increase their desire to take control of their health. Ledger Wilke said the aging population is one reason for increased acceptance of natural remedies.
“The baby boomers are doing it. They don’t want to get old, and if they have to, they want to be healthy and energetic at the same time.”
Although the industry is progressing, its regulations are not. Until recently, natural health products were handled under the Food and Drug Act, which requires everything it covers to be classified as either a food or a drug.
Ledger Wilke said these categories don’t fit alternative medicines.
To be a food, products must not have any pharmacological use, and no dosage recommendations appear on the package.
“If we can’t explain how to use the product, then we can’t ensure safety, so being called a food doesn’t work,” Ledger Wilke said.
The drug category doesn’t fit either, as drugs are synthetic and usually serve a specific purpose, while natural health products use a combination of active ingredients for a variety of uses.
“Take garlic, for example. It’s traditionally a food, but if you make any kind of health claim it becomes a drug,” said Ledger Wilke.
Labeling a product as a drug also makes it more expensive, because manufacturers must pay for drug evaluation fees, licences and other expenses.
In May 1997, a standing committee on natural health products made 53 recommendations to the federal government, outlining ways to create standards for safety and quality.
Millions in funding
On March 26, 1999, the recommendations were accepted and the new office for natural health products received $7 million over three years for administration and $3 million over three years for research.
“That sounds like a lot, but consider that the United States commits $4 million to research one product,” Ledger Wilke said.
Although the battle for a regulatory body is over, the work is only beginning for the industry. A transition team has formed to establish the regulatory framework of the office.
An early November meeting in Halifax will determine how to spend research money, and the office will open in late 1999 or early 2000.
Ledger Wilke said the office wants recognition as a national authority.
“You can be sure everyone is watching Canada to see how this turns out.”
