Health Canada advises consumers not to use the products containing Aristolochic Acid

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 26 Jul 2004 - 21:00 PDT

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Health Canada is advising consumers not to use products containing Aristolochic Acid, a naturally occurring toxin that can cause cancer, mutations in human cells, and end-stage kidney failure.

There have been numerous international reports of death or injury from kidney failure due to ingestion of products found to contain Aristolochic Acid.

Health Canada first issued a warning about Aristolochic Acid in November 1999. Other countries, including the United States, Australia, and member states of the European Union, have also taken regulatory action to address the risk of Aristolochic Acid to consumers.

Health Canada is currently determining whether these products are being sold on the Canadian market, and has issued an alert to the Canadian Border Services Agency to prevent the importation of these products into Canada. There have been no reports of adverse effects related to Aristolochic Acid in Canada.

Herbs being imported and exported may not be adequately labelled because the pinyin (phonetic) spelling of the herbs' Chinese trade names do not always capture critical aspects of pronunciation that properly distinguish these herbs in the Chinese language. The pinyin trade name may also lack the appropriate adjectives that correctly distinguish the different herbs. CONTINUES.........Health Canada

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