Trust In Pharmaceuticals
Does the consuming public know where all the constituents in the make-up of products they consume come from? Not really, since many manufacturers of food products, of cleaning products, and of pharmaceuticals have long imported some elements that constitute a portion of the finished product from other countries. Despite which consumer protection agencies as arms of government are not necessarily compelled to divulge where all the elements in the make-up of a product are derived from. Since the product itself may be wholly or partially produced at home, product origin is identified there.
Yet the international community has become all too aware of late of incidents of contaminated food, toys, toothpastes, pharmaceuticals, and a whole list of products taken for granted, for ordinary use without fear of exposing ourselves and our families to danger. Over 70 advisories and warnings have been issued by Health Canada alone, in 2008, relating to natural health products. Some of which contained unauthorized substances similar to prescription drugs, or undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients.
Products of various types were identified as being tainted with chloroform or bacteria, and the Health Canada laboratories were not always successful in identifying the manufacturer of many products. The episode of melamine contamination in baby formula and milk products from China, which were exported to the international community rests as a case in point, one of many. The contaminated pet food which killed dogs and cats, another.
Chinese-produced toothpaste which contained a toxic chemical ordinarily used in the production of anti-freeze was implicated as a hazardous product. A product used widely in the hotel amenity markets and by airlines. The presence of the toxic substance in the toothpaste, diethylene glycol, was hidden by its manufacturer in a certificate of analysis which made no mention of its presence. The supplier has since signed a contract with another raw-material producer, other than its original one, in China.
Companies which manufacture products commonly used by consumers are always looking for ways to reduce their costs. Mostly because of the very fact that competitors are always there, willing and able to challenge their prices, as a result of using less expensive raw materials. In an exploratory visit to China, to determine whether it might be a good decision to use a producing venue in China that offered cheaper raw materials and production costs, a safety representative from Jamieson Labs. had an interesting experience.
It was his obligation as a safety expert for the Canadian company to oversee the guarantee of purity and safety of his company's vitamins, but in the same token, he was charged with determining whether those values might be compromised, or not, through production by a Chinese manufacturer. What he witnessed at a Chinese plant certainly was instructive, and went a long way to producing the response his company was after.
At the Chinese plant, he witnessed, during a morning walk-about, the manufacturing process of glucosamine, commonly used to alleviate joint pain. In the afternoon, at the same plant, using the very same equipment, workers were busily engaged in manufacturing fertilizer. Cross-contamination a certain result, with the certainty of imperilling the health of users innocent of the dangers inherent in using a product whose safety they would normally trust.
That same Jamieson executive then paid a visit to another plant in China, one responsible for producing 90% of the world's vitamin C used in the manufacture of processed foods and natural health products. "They had a purified water system that they claimed they were using to manufacture their ascorbic acid with. Well, the night I was going through the plant, that purified water system was turned off and they were still operating", according to Gary Leong, vice-president of scientific and technical affairs for Jamieson Labs.
That's pretty elemental, isn't it? The consuming public entrusting their health to the manufacturers of health-care products, while due diligence with respect to the safety of the constituents of those products cannot be adequately guaranteed. Scary stuff.
Yet the international community has become all too aware of late of incidents of contaminated food, toys, toothpastes, pharmaceuticals, and a whole list of products taken for granted, for ordinary use without fear of exposing ourselves and our families to danger. Over 70 advisories and warnings have been issued by Health Canada alone, in 2008, relating to natural health products. Some of which contained unauthorized substances similar to prescription drugs, or undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients.
Products of various types were identified as being tainted with chloroform or bacteria, and the Health Canada laboratories were not always successful in identifying the manufacturer of many products. The episode of melamine contamination in baby formula and milk products from China, which were exported to the international community rests as a case in point, one of many. The contaminated pet food which killed dogs and cats, another.
Chinese-produced toothpaste which contained a toxic chemical ordinarily used in the production of anti-freeze was implicated as a hazardous product. A product used widely in the hotel amenity markets and by airlines. The presence of the toxic substance in the toothpaste, diethylene glycol, was hidden by its manufacturer in a certificate of analysis which made no mention of its presence. The supplier has since signed a contract with another raw-material producer, other than its original one, in China.
Companies which manufacture products commonly used by consumers are always looking for ways to reduce their costs. Mostly because of the very fact that competitors are always there, willing and able to challenge their prices, as a result of using less expensive raw materials. In an exploratory visit to China, to determine whether it might be a good decision to use a producing venue in China that offered cheaper raw materials and production costs, a safety representative from Jamieson Labs. had an interesting experience.
It was his obligation as a safety expert for the Canadian company to oversee the guarantee of purity and safety of his company's vitamins, but in the same token, he was charged with determining whether those values might be compromised, or not, through production by a Chinese manufacturer. What he witnessed at a Chinese plant certainly was instructive, and went a long way to producing the response his company was after.
At the Chinese plant, he witnessed, during a morning walk-about, the manufacturing process of glucosamine, commonly used to alleviate joint pain. In the afternoon, at the same plant, using the very same equipment, workers were busily engaged in manufacturing fertilizer. Cross-contamination a certain result, with the certainty of imperilling the health of users innocent of the dangers inherent in using a product whose safety they would normally trust.
That same Jamieson executive then paid a visit to another plant in China, one responsible for producing 90% of the world's vitamin C used in the manufacture of processed foods and natural health products. "They had a purified water system that they claimed they were using to manufacture their ascorbic acid with. Well, the night I was going through the plant, that purified water system was turned off and they were still operating", according to Gary Leong, vice-president of scientific and technical affairs for Jamieson Labs.
That's pretty elemental, isn't it? The consuming public entrusting their health to the manufacturers of health-care products, while due diligence with respect to the safety of the constituents of those products cannot be adequately guaranteed. Scary stuff.
posted by Pieface @ 6:05 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home