Dietary Supplements-The Damocles Sword hanging over users!

Man's eternal search for "pink health" can take him to any where at any risks but this is precisely the prime motivating factor for many unscrupulous industry players to market a variety of products with tall but unsubstantiated health claims on bringing about dramatic improvements, general or specific, in the health of the unsuspecting buyers. The government has the onerous responsibility to check this menace through regulatory controls which need to be science based. In many countries these peddlers of so called "well being" products have a free run because either there is no law to regulate them or the existing laws are ambivalent giving sufficient leeway to the lawyer community to argue their cases out in the court if at all they are caught! Why should any normal person take any supplements at all? What do the citizens understand when products with tall health claims are dangled before them? 

According to classical definition "dietary supplements are intended to provide nutrients that may other wise not be consumed". It is very clear that these supplements are not for those whose diet is balanced in terms of all nutrients required by human body and there fore they need to be taken only after consulting a physician regarding any deficiency symptoms detected by him. Unfortunately physicians are never brought into focus when consumers unilaterally decide to take them because of high pressure promotions and tall claims made by the industry. Look at  some of the most patronized supplements in the market to realize the dimension of the problem. Supplements are offered in the form of pills, capsules, powders, drinks, energy bars, food adjuncts etc containing a variety of health "supporting" materials like vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, essential amino acids, herbals and botanicals, enzymes, antioxidants, fish oils, probiotics etc. The multibillion dollar industry spanning the entire world market a staggering 55,000 and odd products under the supplement category and in a country like the US more than half the population consume one or more supplements almost every day! 

A million dollar question is what the hell the governments in many countries are doing except closing their eyes to the existence of this roaring industry making money left, right and the center with practically no conscience for selling products, most people do not need at all!.  According some respectable experts 90% of the health claims made by peddlers of such products are incorrect and unsubstantiated and to add insult to injury more than 30% of such products do contain unlisted steroids. USA is an astonishing country where people have unlimited liberty to do any thing with least control over them under the pretext that it is one of the oldest democracies in the world. In this "great" country any one can sell a supplement without permission from the safety enforcement authorities who will have to look at these products only when some injury is caused and reported! In contrast in Europe food supplements must be demonstrated to be safe in dosage and purity as being suggested by the manufacturer before marketing them. 

It is mind boggling that the Americans spend an estimated $32 billion on dietary supplements every year, attracted by unproven claims that various pills and powders will help them lose weight, build muscle and fight off everything from colds to chronic illnesses. Alarm bells are now being sounded about the magnitude of liver damage cases being reported across that country which are linked to supplements though many believe that a majority of supplements are generally safe. In recent years, critics of the industry have called for measures that would force companies to prove that their products are safe, genuine and made in accordance with strict manufacturing standards before they reach the market. An antiquated federal law enacted in 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, "prevents" the Food and Drug Administration from approving or evaluating most supplements before they are sold. Usually the agency must wait until consumers are harmed before officials can remove products from stores. Because the supplement industry operates on the honor system, studies show, the market has been flooded with products that are adulterated, mislabeled or packaged in dosages that have not been studied for safety.

One encouraging feature of the supplement landscape in the US is that most of the products implicated in liver injuries were bodybuilding supplements spiked with unlisted steroids, and herbal pills and powders promising to increase energy and help consumers lose weight. Probably those peddling them are criminals who see a business opportunity to spike some products and sell them as dietary supplements. Probably it may be the fringe of the industry deflecting any wholesale blame of the entire industry. Many of the popular supplements like vitamins, minerals, probiotics and fish oil had not been linked to any definite patterns of adverse effects and there fore they have a case for continuing their business with out any restriction by government. the flip side of this enigma is that the FDA is alarmed by the fact that 70 percent of dietary supplement companies are not following basic quality control standards that would help prevent adulteration of their products and the likely consequences there of. Of the 55,000 supplements that are sold in the United States, only 170 or about 0.3 percent, have been studied closely enough to determine their common side effects. 

Common sense says that only when a product is  regulated by a government agency with appropriate technical competence, its benefits and side effects can be fully known based on which an informed decision can be taken by the consumer whether to take it or not. After all every day life is a balance of "risks and benefits" and it is the duty of any responsible government to make available such information to the citizen in a transparent manner. It is some thing like the "injurious" warning mandated to be printed on cigarette packs to warn the consumer about the dangers of smoking. Similarly once consumers of dietary supplements know about the consequences of consuming it, probably that may serve as a deterrent against buying the same which after all does not restrict his freedom of buying such products, if he still wants to go ahead.  

In India the situation is more complicated because the safety monitoring as being claimed by the entrusted agency is all but a sham with the food products themselves not being assessed for their safety let alone the dietary supplements! There are innumerable instances of many food products, some of them made by multinational companies claiming that they boost intelligence, make the children tall and strong, restores energy in few seconds after consuming, etc. Complicating the issue further there are an array of products being offered by the organized industry based on traditional Ayurveda system which can be considered as supplements and there are no regulations which control these products. It is time that the government of India wakes up to streamline the food products and food supplements industry through effective standardization and safety parameters that can prevent food related damage to the health of the citizens. .

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com 

FOOD VS MINERALS-ARE THE NEW POLICIES SKEWED?

The present government is very keen to push through the so called food security bill under which food grains like wheat, rice and coarse grains are distributed practically free to three fourth of the population in the country under the skewed perception that people would be happy if they could access staple foods easily. What is forgotten in this populist program is about the logistics of production of required food to meet the new needs arising out of the commitment by the government. The long forgotten Green Revolution had run its course, ruining the fertility and health of the soil and it is unlikely that the same soil can achieve quantum jump in production unless reclaimed or rehabilitated. Such a program of rejuvenation is far from the minds of the policy makers as of now and probably this commitment will eventually lead to massive imports of food in future. Present happy situation with the grain stocks cannot continue for ever and if the rains fail the country a couple of times the present stock can "evaporate" in no time. Is any one at Delhi, including the "exalted" Planning Commission bothered about this precarious situation?

The new Land Policy now being orchestrated is intended to facilitate land acquisition for industry and real estate conglomerates, the only redeeming feature being increased compensation receivable by the land losers. But disappearance of agricultural land, especially smaller holdings owned by millions of farmers in the coming years will make a dent in food production and such a land policy will also contribute to increased food imports. There appears to be a perception in the government that self reliance is a "sin" when the country has subscribed to free trade policies under the WTO regime. Is food import a wise policy? Of course not because grain prices in the international markets are influenced by many factors and India has no influence on the same. Is the country prepared to pay any price to import food grains when food shortages become acute one day? Recent events have seen how a small drought in one exporting country can cause spiraling of grain prices in the global market and imagine the potential risk in the form of civil disturbances that can occur under scarcity conditions! 

As one of the discerning critics has pointed out recently the present government seems to be more pre-occupied about mineral exports under the perceived impression that they can bring lot of money and this is the logic behind the enactment of the new Mining Bill. Though land acquisition for mining is not a pre-requisite as such lands rich in minerals are leased out for long time, fact still remains that land is lost for cultivation if minerals are found under the land, affecting again food production. Country seems to be forgetting the recent mining scams in states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Goa and others which have rocked the nation and all these scams are politician-mining mafia driven causing huge losses to the exchequer. Look at places like Bellary where the environment is thick with red dust generated by inefficient and crude way of mining and mining barons are ruthless in destroying every thing coming in their way. Illegal mining and exporting appear to be taking place under the very nose of the government in spite of judicial intervention! A number of NGOs who espouse the cause of environment are doing a yeomen service to the nation by their relentless fight against over mining and unscientific practices of mining industry. 

The current year bumper harvest may embolden the government to push ahead with its illogical policies because with large stocks of food grains in the government storage depots, covered as well open, a false sense of food security is likely to prevail at least for another year. When one talks about mining and export of minerals from the country, it is forgotten that precious non-renewable resources are lost once for all irretrievably and will the present rulers be around to answer to the future generations about such a heinous deed? What prevents the government from linking mining leases with production outfits which can extract the valuable mineral contained and return the bulk of the wastes back to the place preventing unnecessary land destruction. Export of minerals containing 99% sand and traces of targeted mineral is nothing but a folly when country is talking about value addition, industrialization and employment generation. 

India will be remembered in history as a country going down under with wrong policies and priorities, if agriculture is not given the importance it deserves. Almost 70% of the population living in the rural backyard of this country should be applauded and encouraged for providing food to the 30% of those living in urban regions generating economic wealth through manufacturing and other industrial and commercial services. If rural India falters the country will falter and it is the duty of the government to provide rightful environment through economic and policy support with more commitment. Farmers in this country should not be allowed to wither away by a deluge of suicides taking place in different agricultural belts and if such wake up calls do not ring alarm bells in the appropriate quarters, nothing else will!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com