01-04-2012, 08:44
Hi Mochaccino,
I haven't looked into Nature's Answer yet, but Solgar PM Phytogen Complex is illegal in the EU now, if only because it contains 40,000 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin B12. Megadose vitamin supplements were banned here last year.
That's maybe why they didn't bother with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. GMP is a quality standard that has been enforced in the food industry for years. It became mandatory for supplements in the EU last year. It's mainly about requirements for documentation. In short: if a manufacturer has been buying raw materials from the same farmer for 40 years, it's OK. If the farmer leaves the business to his son, the manufacturer needs to prepare documents proving that the quality is not at risk.
In addressing the concern that you raised, supply chain integrity, USP just made a start "proposing a set of recommended best practices":
http://us.vocuspr.com/ViewAttachmentStrict.aspx?EID=zH8SHnLVOWYvieeyHSxXwIVBZUWQbv3aDUXeSgnbFzE%3d
So apparently, they don't guarantee or enforce anything. The fact that they have offices in India, China, and Brasil gets me worried rather than reassured.
At the heart of the problem is Big Pharma's outsourcing the manufacture of medicines to India in the past decades. The result was a flood of counterfeit medicines. That's why I encourage forum members in India to purchase their herbs as close as possible to the agricultural source. I don't know if this problem has spread to Thailand yet, but this is how the PM trade works:
http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/TH/pueraria-mirifica-powder.html
I hope I'm not offending forum members in India or Thailand. If it helps for consolation: I buy my herbs as close as possible to the agricultural source here in The Netherlands too.
For supplements, there are no requirements for supply chain verification or proof of effectiveness yet in the EU. Imports are simply stopped at the border and analysed for the most obvious signs of contamination or adulteration, like heavy metals. Registered supplements go free, but registration requires documented proof that the supplement is safe to use.
Now with the above in mind, how does Nature's Answer look?
http://www.naturesanswer.com/p-842-pueraria-mirifica-60vegc.aspx
It's illegal in the EU because of the 8,333 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin B12.
According to the PDF of the label, the PM root extract is from Bio-Botanica, Inc:
http://www.naturesanswer.com/descriptions/productspecs/Pueraria_Mirifica_label_26187.pdf
Bio-Botanica is a family business, the products are certified organic, and not tested on animals:
http://www.bio-botanica.com/
but the first thing they advertise is:
"Our exclusive focus is to create products tailored to your requirements, with strict confidentiality."
Products tailored to customer requirements, with strict confidentiality, are what the counterfeit medicine business thrives on. If that is their exclusive focus, where is the concern for the health of the end user of the product?
I haven't looked into Nature's Answer yet, but Solgar PM Phytogen Complex is illegal in the EU now, if only because it contains 40,000 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin B12. Megadose vitamin supplements were banned here last year.
That's maybe why they didn't bother with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification. GMP is a quality standard that has been enforced in the food industry for years. It became mandatory for supplements in the EU last year. It's mainly about requirements for documentation. In short: if a manufacturer has been buying raw materials from the same farmer for 40 years, it's OK. If the farmer leaves the business to his son, the manufacturer needs to prepare documents proving that the quality is not at risk.
In addressing the concern that you raised, supply chain integrity, USP just made a start "proposing a set of recommended best practices":
http://us.vocuspr.com/ViewAttachmentStrict.aspx?EID=zH8SHnLVOWYvieeyHSxXwIVBZUWQbv3aDUXeSgnbFzE%3d
So apparently, they don't guarantee or enforce anything. The fact that they have offices in India, China, and Brasil gets me worried rather than reassured.
At the heart of the problem is Big Pharma's outsourcing the manufacture of medicines to India in the past decades. The result was a flood of counterfeit medicines. That's why I encourage forum members in India to purchase their herbs as close as possible to the agricultural source. I don't know if this problem has spread to Thailand yet, but this is how the PM trade works:
http://www.alibaba.com/countrysearch/TH/pueraria-mirifica-powder.html
I hope I'm not offending forum members in India or Thailand. If it helps for consolation: I buy my herbs as close as possible to the agricultural source here in The Netherlands too.
For supplements, there are no requirements for supply chain verification or proof of effectiveness yet in the EU. Imports are simply stopped at the border and analysed for the most obvious signs of contamination or adulteration, like heavy metals. Registered supplements go free, but registration requires documented proof that the supplement is safe to use.
Now with the above in mind, how does Nature's Answer look?
http://www.naturesanswer.com/p-842-pueraria-mirifica-60vegc.aspx
It's illegal in the EU because of the 8,333 % of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of vitamin B12.
According to the PDF of the label, the PM root extract is from Bio-Botanica, Inc:
http://www.naturesanswer.com/descriptions/productspecs/Pueraria_Mirifica_label_26187.pdf
Bio-Botanica is a family business, the products are certified organic, and not tested on animals:
http://www.bio-botanica.com/
but the first thing they advertise is:
"Our exclusive focus is to create products tailored to your requirements, with strict confidentiality."
Products tailored to customer requirements, with strict confidentiality, are what the counterfeit medicine business thrives on. If that is their exclusive focus, where is the concern for the health of the end user of the product?