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Health Canada advises consumers not to use the products
containing Aristolochic Acid
OTTAWA - 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.
Therefore, products labelled to contain the
following could contain Aristolochia and its toxic Aristolochic
Acid by mistake:
- Aristolochia
- Aristolochic Acid
- Mu Tong
- Stephania
- Menispermum
- Cocculus
- Diploclisia
- Sinomenium
- Akebia
- Clematis
- Saussurea
- Vladimiria
- Asarum
- Bragantia
Aristolochia (birthwort, Virginia snakeroot),
Asarum (wild ginger - unrelated to common ginger), and Bragantia
(also known as Apama or Thottea) are plants known to contain
Aristolochic Acid.
If you have products containing Aristolochic
Acid, you are asked to contact the Health Products and Food
Branch Inspectorate's regional operational centres at 1-800-267-9675.
The Chinese Medicines Board of the Chinese
Medicine Council of Hong Kong has recently provided Health
Canada with the following list of Chinese medicines that
have been found to contain Aristolochic Acid. The Hong Kong
Department of Health has instructed manufacturers of these
products to recall the products from the market.
Source: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/protection/warnings/2005/2005_08.html
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