The Vigilance and Monitoring of Health Supplements and Nutraceuticals
Health supplements are widely used in market and boast about the great benefits they claim to give the user whereas many medical drugs are sold in the market under the banner of nutraceuticals. A quick check on both of them :
Nutraceuticals are the products derived from food. Nutraceutical provides the basic nutritional value of the food and also provides some extra health benefit that is helpful in treating and preventing diseases. It also has a medicinal dimension as one of the component is a medicinal drug. Nutraceuticals are used to promote general well being and boost growth. They improve, help and prevent chronic diseases, delay the ageing process and may increase life expectancy, apart from providing vitality and agility to the body. They may be sold in the form of pills, powders, potions, liquids and other medicinal form. Health supplements, on the other hand are a diverse range of products that supplement the regular diet of a person. Who ever feels the lack of essential nutrients in his daily diet can opt for health supplements. It enhances health and provides necessary minerals and vitamins required by the body in processing its regular functions. They are derived generally from natural resources and are not medicinal by nature hence should not be used for treating, preventing, curing or alleviating medical symptoms or diseases. This is the major difference between health supplements and nutraceuticals, that the former has no relation to treating diseases and focuses only on providing additional health advantage along with regular diet. The latter has to be taken in case you are suffering from something and want the medicine to be derived from food products. The most common example of health supplements is multivitamins used by almost half of the population of America. Almost 40% arthritis patients take nutraceuticals to alleviate the pain. According to US Food and Drug Administration, a dietary ingredient in a health supplement may contain vitamins, minerals, herbs, amino acid or extracts.In the recent years, the rise in the demand of health supplements due to their added advantage has propelled many pharma companies to sell medicinal drugs with the name of nutraceuticals. There has been a thorough violation and fooling of standards and regulations set for the production and selling of nutraceuticals. As a result, the amendment of dividing health supplements and nutraceuticals into 8 categories has been designed. The pharma companies have to adhere to getting a proper label from FSSAI and mention the nutritional value offered by the product,along with its medicinal implications.
Mr. Pawan Agarwal, Chief Executive Officer of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) says that the new standards of nutraceuticals will be implemented nationwide from 1st January onwards in the coming year. The step has been undertaken taking consumers’ health and well-being in mind. There is also a need to regulate and monitor the food supplement manufacturers who make tall claims of providing such-such results in so-and- so many days. The claims so endorsed by these companies will be checked and verified only with the presence of substantial evidence.
Mr. Agarwal points out the loopholes in the system of checking and accessing these products. He says that there is a dire need to frame robust network where each product is duly tested and affirmed before made available to the consumer. The product so flown in the market for selling must have a proper labelling for easy identification and application. The step by the government to make food supplements and nutraceuticals affordable is also appreciating as shockingly, 43% of children are malnourished in India. This step will prove beneficial in the long run as quality products will be made available to the lower strata at fair prices.
This will also put a stop to irregulatory practices taking place in the health supplement and nutraceutical industry.
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