New natural health regulations step in right direction

New natural health regulations step in right direction

Kirsten Taylor, founder of stress and sleep supplement company SleepDrops, says the new regulatory regime created by the Natural Health and Supplementary Products Bill looks, on the surface, like a step in the right direction.

“Any time consumers can improve their health with safe natural medicines rather than having to resort to drugs with side effects, it's a good thing.

“The current system we are working within dilutes the information that companies can provide and literally stops consumers from buying product that is safe, poses no risk to their health and could potentially stop them from developing a serious disease.

“It would be wonderful to say clearly that our SleepDrops range helps people suffering from insomnia, rather than tip-toeing around the issue and only being allowed to say it supports normal sleep patterns.”

Ms Taylor’s only concern is they have not seen the exact requirements for scientific evidence to justify the claims and this is where it could get a little tricky.

“Because of the difficulties patenting natural medicines, there is little to no financial motivation for small to medium sized companies to undertake million dollar trials. The best way forward would be to develop a collaborative system where companies with similar ingredients collectively cover the cost of these trials.

“It will be interesting to see how it turns out but I am pleased that finally something sensible is being done which will benefit NZ consumers,” concluded Taylor.

ends

© Scoop Media