"Traditional use" and regulatory change in the arena of natural health products.

• Author: Kurata, Vincent
• Position: Canada

Over the last three years, the federal government has been pressured to loosen advertising restrictions on Natural Health Products (NHPs). Such pressure has originated both externally (consumer petitions and the industry lobby) and internally (private member's bills). Government responded to this pressure by proposing new NHP regulations that would see these products exempted from the "health claim prohibition" effected by s. 3 of the Food and Drugs Act (FDA).

The health claim prohibition has functioned, in the past, to prevent NHP manufacturers from advertising their goods as treatments, cures or preventatives for a list of approximately 40 serious diseases / conditions set out in the FDA. With respect to diseases not covered by the health claim prohibition, NHP manufacturers have been allowed to advertise their goods as cures, treatments or preventatives provided that they could prove the safety and efficacy of the product with scientific data. The "traditional use exception" has functioned as a regulatory loophole of sorts, allowing NHP manufacturers to advertise their goods as treatments, cures or preventatives...