Posted on 09/21/2010 9:43:24 PM PDT by MamaDearest
This is much less likely to happen with people taking Red Yeast Rice, a large number of which don't even know that the reason it seems to work is that it sometimes contains ... statin!
What are we talking about here, what products would be affected, and how?
I'm thinking along similar lines.
Buzzwords like Big Pharma and Agribusiness are often used by those with a leftist agenda. I also look askance at commentary sprinkled with phrases like Big Oil and Big Healthcare interests.
There may indeed be merit in this piece but those emotionally-charged terms make me wonder if there's a liberal advocacy.
Just why should Pfizer be given patent protection against a naturally occurring component in a long-used herbal remedy?
same reason patents are refused for EFFECTIVE curative rx.
I cannot find this story being reported in the main stream press. It’s hard to believe that European papers wouldn’t be screaming about this topic. Germany, for instance, commonly uses herbal medicine in their normal medical practice.
While I disagree with the EU's position and actions on herbs and "nutriceuticals" (and likewise the FDA's similar push), the above should not be a significant barrier. The way to handle it is to establish an "industry association" to handle the testings, with all companies selling the materials to contribute some funding to get the tests done. This is how the folks in agriculture (cotton, milk, wheat, etc, etc.) handle such things.
And I "do" think that some oversight of potency (by which I mean verification of the content of active agent) and purity for stuff that is "mass-marketed" is reasonable. Leave the corner Chinese herbalist alone.
If they're like peanuts, various of the fungi that grow on them can be quite toxic. Pasteurization kills the fungi and lengthens the shelf life.
Yes, some small amount of nutrient value is lost, but to say that the process creates "dead food" is a ridiculous assertion.
Of gardening interest. Guess we might want to be prepared to grow our own.
I'm more concerned about people taking a compound that can cause kidney failure if taken in the wrong doses than that Pfizer loses some money.
I’m not sure there’s a substance that can’t do us in the wrong dosage. Some regulation seems prudent, that which is so onerous so as to make natural substances unavailable as competition with pharma-back altenatives seems craven.
The first thing that happened was someone changed the spelling. It used to be spelled L-tryptophan.
A perfectly healthy substance that killed a bunch of people because some of the stuff that was sold wasn't pure.
Not exactly. One company used a short cut in its manufacturing process which created a product contaminated with an altered chemical makeup.
THE SUPPRESION OF THE USE OF L-TRPTOPHAN, A SAFE AND EFFECTIVE SLEEP AID, RELAXER AND MEMORY INHANCER by Physicist Gary Wade (11/17/07)Several dozens of people died and several thousand people suffered debilitating illness. The source cause of EMS was eventually traced to impurities in the L-tryptophan sold by the Japanese pharmaceutical company of Showa Denko K.K., Tokyo, Japan.(29)
Showa Denko made several manufacturing procedural changes in L-tryptophan manufacturing between December 1988 and June 1989. These changes had the net effect of essentially lowering purification standards in their new genetically engineered L-tryptophan manufacturing process.(30,31,32,33,34,35)
It should also be noted that the FDA went to some trouble to conceal the fact that the L-tryptophan in question was produced through genetic engineering.(36)
And what did "Big Herba" do? Did they protest the elimination of L-Tryptophane from the shelves? No. Did they do some sort of self-policing and discover which manufacturers were selling adulterated products so that those who sold healthy ones could continue to sell their wares?
I don't know who "Big Herba" is but no one had to pull any products from the shelf because the FDA ordered it and banned its sale across the board in spite of the fact that only one company produced the contaminated L-tryptophan. Herbalists and herbal product companies all over the country protested that with the same effect that most people get when dealing with a big FedGov bureaucracy. Nothing.
In fact it was the FDA that covered up the fact that one company used a lousy process and it was the FDA that invented a false reason for banning it.
Special Investigative Report: L-tryptophan, Lactic Acid, Prozac and Naturally Treating Depression the Holistic WayIn the fall of 1989, the F.D.A. banned L-tryptophan sales, claiming that it caused a rare and deadly flu-like condition known as Eosinophilia-Myalgia Syndrome. Of course, the F.D.A. allegation was not true, which follows the usual pattern regarding herbs and supplements.
It isn't true that the herbal industry did nothing. It isn't true that they "laid low and then started selling it again when the heat was off." (paraphrased) They only began selling it again after the FDA finally relented and lifted the ban in 2001. Which they did, in part, due to years of pressure from those of us in the herbal medicine industry.
"Big Herba" can go suck eggs! The average consumer cannot be expected to have a $1,000,000 chemistry lab in his home to identify all of the possible ingredients in everything they purchase.
There is no need for that since Federal law requires that every product must have all of its ingredients listed. It also requires that claims of strength of particular constituents be verified by independent labs and is overseen by the FDA.
I am not familiar with Red Yeast but I have to wonder if you information about it is as wildly inaccurate as your info on "L-Tryptophane."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.