Time is running out for some herbal supplements ....

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Although I knew that changes were being made to the sale of herbal products, I have just been made aware of how those changes might affect us. I got a letter this morning saying:

You are probably aware that there are large changes occurring this year concerning the availability of many herbal products. As from the end of April companies such as Lamberts will no longer be permitted to manufacture and sell certain herbs unless they are registered as Traditional Herbal Medicines.

Lamberts is one of the few companies that is pursuing its own registration as we are determined to provide products that not only meet the quality standards expected of THR's but are also the right potency and free from unwanted tabletting ingredients. The registration process is well underway and over the next 18 months we will launch a number of practitioner strength products.

In the meantime we have plenty of stock of our original supplement versions of our herbs. Both practitioners and retailers are permitted to purchase these products from us up to the end of April, and then to sell on to your patients/customers for as long as required to clear your stock.......

What this means for those of us who take certain herbal supplements is that those will vanish from the shelves probably later in the year when the retailers reserves run out. Many of them won't be replaced and those that will be `converted' into `practitioner strength products' will – I would guess - go up considerably in price... somebody has to pay for those changes and it won't be the companies alone that will pick up the tab. I do not know of all the herbal products that will be affected in this way, but have been made aware that

St. 's Wort, Horse Chestnut, Rhodiola Rosea, Valerian, Milk Thistle, Vitex and Echinacea

are amongst them.

I don't know if non-herbal supplements are also affected perhaps later on, but I do worry. Most of us take supplements and I for one don't think my body could cope well without them. Does anybody know if supplements like NAX, Vit C, Q10, other vitamins, Siberian Ginseng etc. will be next on the government's black list ?