Virtually all herbal supplements that were tested in a congressional investigation, contained traces of lead and other contaminants, and some apparently illegal statements showed that the product could cure cancer and other diseases.
The levels of heavy metals including mercury, cadmium and arsenic, “do not exceed the standards considered hazardous, as revealed by research published by the New York Times.
The same source revealed that 16 of the 40 supplements tested contained residues of pesticides exceeding legal limits.
On the false promises of the products, the report of the Office of the Government Accountability said they found at least nine supplementation apparently illegal claims about their benefits, including ginkgo biloba product whose label said it was used as a treatment for Alzheimer and other ginseng product, labeled as a treatment to prevent diabetes and cancer.
And is that as reported by the NYT, any product that claims to treat, cure, prevent or mitigate a disease is considered a drug and should be subject to strict regulation.
Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said to the Times was not concerned about the safety of the supplements reviewed by GAO investigators
For his part, Steve Mister, president of the Council of Responsible Nutrition, an association representing the dietary supplement industry, said it was not surprising that herbal supplements containing traces of heavy metals, and that these are routinely in soil and plants. “I do not think this should be a concern for consumers,” he said to the paper cited above.
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Tags: Cancer, heavy metals, herbal supplements, prevent diabetes, the dietary supplement