28 January 2011

BEIRUT: The Health Ministry has acted to remove harmful herbal and nutritional products from local markets following warnings from Gulf countries, in what advocates hope is the beginning of a long-awaited crackdown.

The ministry issued a blanket warning Wednesday about certain herbal products and nutritional supplements, after Gulf health authorities decided to withdraw 38 products manufactured in Lebanon from the market.

An official at the Lebanese Health Ministry told The Daily Star that 12 of these products had been withdrawn because they contained “chemical” and harmful” ingredients.

Abu Dhabi’s Health Authority has released a statement indicating that “the analysis conducted on these products shows that they contain banned chemical ingredients.”

In addition, it said, “the medical claims put forward [by the companies] weren’t reviewed, and these products could have dangerous effects.”

An industry source told The Daily Star that products manufactured by the famous and heavily advertised herbal company Zein al-Atat were on the list. The Abu Dhabi Health Authority statement also mentions the firm by name.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry’s statement, caretaker Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh sent a letter to the Economy Ministry asking for these products to be removed from the national market.

As the head of the Order of Physicians, Dr. Sharaf Abu Sharaf, explained to The Daily Star, the Health Ministry lacks the authority to stop companies from manufacturing these products.

The Order met five times with Parliament’s Health Committee to discuss a possible solution to the issue, without success.

Abu Sharaf said the Order’s sole demand was for state officials to abide by the law. “The law forbids manufacturing, marketing and selling products that are harmful to public health,” he said. “We are well aware that these products are against the law and harmful, but we couldn’t do anything.”

But to Zouhair Berro, head of the Lebanese Consumers Association, “the main problem is that there is not even a minimum of supervision for the way they’re dealing with these nutritional supplements.”

A new decree, which was issued a month ago, requires herbal products and nutritional supplements to be manufactured in specialized medical factories, under the same conditions as regular medicines.

Advertising for these products, which can be sold anywhere, is not forbidden, but companies must apply for a license to do so.

However, nutritional supplements and herbal products only fall under this decree if they do not contain any chemical ingredients, the Health Ministry official explained.

But Berro said local health authorities “don’t even do tests, or research in labs to determine what the product is, and what kind of ingredient is in it.”

Berro said the issue has been neglected so far because the system itself is flawed, while certain media outlets are benefiting from the products through lucrative advertising revenues.

“Millions of dollars have been put into the media,” he said.

While Abu Sharaf agreed, noting “a lot of money is covering the issue,” he argued that political factors were also at play. “There are politicians benefiting from keeping these products on the market,” he said.

“These products are treated as they were part of the trade sector rather than the health sector,” Berro said. “It is time to put an end to this situation.” – With additional reporting by Dana Khraiche

Copyright The Daily Star 2011.