My name is Claire Monahan. I work at Nature’s Fare Markets on a variety of tasks including researching and developing sustainability initiatives, coordinating our employee training, writing content for our quarterly newsletter, and now I have become our in house blogger!

I don’t usually get too concerned with the political side of our business, mainly because I don’t really know that much about it. My sister, who also works at Nature’s Fare, is far more involved in those matters. Not only does she advocate for our industry to our local members of parliament, she has been to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to discuss industry regulations and is actively involved as a director of the Canadian Health Food Association. Recently, she, along with a few of our staff members, went to Kelowna to meet with Ron Cannon, the area MP. The discussion was in regards to a deadline announced by Health Canada that could affect a large number of vitamin and supplement products. Before I get going too much on that I think I should probably back up and give a little bit of history.

A few years ago, Health Canada decided that Natural Health Products (vitamins, supplements, and even some grocery products fall into this category) should be more strictly regulated. Currently, all Natural Health Products (NHPs) are positioned as a subset of the Food and Drug Act and regulated as drugs.  In an effort to standardize the requirements for natural health products, Health Canada created the Natural Health Product regulations, which control product licensing, how products are manufactured and what can be said on the label. Along with this regulation came the mandate that all natural health products must be given a natural health product number, aka an NPN. In order for a product to obtain an NPN the manufacturer must go through a lengthy application process that is reviewed by Health Canada. Not only is this a long and arduous process, it can cost the manufacturer up to five thousand dollars per product.

The deadline that I mentioned previously will make it illegal for all products without NPNs to be sold in Canada. As of February 4, 2013, all products without an NPN number will start to disappear from retailers’ shelves, even those with pending applications. Health Canada has said that by their stated deadline, they will have processed applications for all products that are currently in queue. That means that in a little over six months, Health Canada expects to have hundreds of thousands of applications completed and NHP numbers assigned to all waiting products. Considering Health Canada has been processing and completing applications since the announcement of these regulations in 2004, I find it a little difficult to believe that they will achieve their goals.

The following are all examples of natural health products:

Calcium supplements, iron supplements, Echinacea, ginseng, omega 3,6,9 fatty acids, vitamin C, vitamin B, and the list goes on. It also includes combination products, like cleansing kits, proprietary blends etc. Many of these products could disappear from retailers’ shelves on February 4 of next year unless Health Canada changes their current time line. I’m not talking about one or two products becoming unavailable, I am talking about over 1/4 of the current inventory that Nature’s Fare would have in its vitamin department.

The regulations aren’t all bad; they are created to ensure that all vitamin and supplement products on Canadian shelves are safe for consumption. This is important – even though there has never been a single fatality from consuming a NHP, which can’t be said for pharmaceutical medications. Additionally, the regulations will finally allow manufacturers to state claims on their labels, like, “calcium can help to maintain bone health,” which, under old legislation was illegal.

The problem that I have with regulations is that the government is not dictating these rules based on safety. Instead of allowing consumers to decide what sort of NHPs will work for them, they are dictating what can and cannot be chosen. Of course the natural health industry is in favor of producing and selling only safe products, however I believe that consumers should still be given the opportunity to decide what they purchase for their own health. If I feel better when I take cinnamon, or feel that my colds are shortened when I take Oil of Oregano, or that my aches and pains are relieved by taking serrapeptase or glucosamine, I should have the right to make that decision and consume whatever I want. If I choose to treat my illness naturally rather than pharmaceutically, I should have that choice. And, before long, those products that don’t work anyways will be off the shelves because consumers will not purchase them. It is the perfect example of a free market system wherein effective products in demand are purchased and faulty products do not last because people do not purchase them again. Additionally, these new regulations are hindering innovation because companies are not as eager to start expensive research on new products that may not be approved for an NPN. Smaller companies will be especially affected by these new regulations as applications for NPNs are expensive and time consuming and not in the scope of business for many companies with smaller budgets.

As a member of the community of people that finds benefits from these natural health products, I believe it’s important that we make an effort to protect the products that we value. Even people like me, who is generally happy to maintain a low profile, can make a difference by passing on the information so more people can become educated. If you want to voice your opinion on these regulations you can contact your local MP, you can sign petitions on line, and you can post information on social media vehicles like Facebook and Twitter. You can also visit www.chfa.ca for more information.