Complementary medication manufacturing country

[Deactivated] on 19/12/2014 - 23:42
Last edited 20/12/2014 - 03:50

Hi guys,

I don't normally take these medication but I was just browsing the aisle of the local chemist and found something quite puzzling/concerning.

Some of the more popular brands like swisse, blackmores and others I cannot remember do not provide a manufacturing country. Some of them allude to a formulated location (it is just like how apple says "designed in california", most provide an australian and new zealand office but do not explicitly say where it is made.

Found others that did say made in australia. These brands such as healthy care have large green kangaroo triangles and large words exclaiming that it is made in australia.

Having found this unusual, I went around the shop and realized EVERY OTHER PRODUCT states where it is made.

So I'm asking if any of you know where these complementary medicines are made could you me/us know? (I searched on their websites and they do mention australian and new zealand locations (seems like offices and distribution centres) as well that is congruent with the packaging but no explicit mention of where it is made.

If they are made in australia, I am sure they will state it proudly as it is a selling point. If they aren't made in australia, where are they made and how are they getting away with not stating that.

It is a non-food product that do not contain high risk ingredients (like regulated drugs). However it is one that is consumed pretty regularly by some people. Very surprised that it is not mentioned.

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • adamren on 20/12/2014 - 00:46
    +1

    It's my rule of thumb: if it doesn't say Made in Australia then what are they hiding. Skip them. Worse is to not even say where it's from at all or to use vague terms like 'Imported'.

    I've noticed more and more now the term 'Made in PRC'. I'd bet it's a majority of people that don't know where PRC is let alone what it stands for.

    We seriously need product labeling pronto. Not just origin but those with GMO also.

    • [Deactivated] on 20/12/2014 - 03:55

      That is what I thought. The worst part is that this problem seems to be ONLY happen with complementary medicines. I could not find any other product outside of that aisle that failed to mention the country of origin.

      Could not find anything on the internet about manufacturing country as well.

      At risk of repeating myself here. I ask how are they getting away with this? I think this should be more highly regulated than normal food.

      • Islund on 20/12/2014 - 14:24

        That is because there is hardly any regulation in AU. I work for a company supplyi g the ingredients and basically I would not buy anything but Blackmores and/or Sanofi.

        Mind you we hardly supply anything to them for most of our stuff comes out of China.

        • [Deactivated] on 20/12/2014 - 15:21
          +1

          Blackmores and swisse (being reputable brands) both do not state country or origin. I saw a company owned by sanofi (can't remember the name) also did not state country of origin.
          I'm very surprised that there is less regulation for these products than some other food products.

        • Islund on 20/12/2014 - 15:45
          +3

          @lolbbq: at the fish of being defamatory I would only trust Blackmores out of the 2 you named. Paying high profile sportspeople to spruik your product does not make the product good

        • kasumi on 31/12/2014 - 12:06

          @Islund:

          I've always wondered why that brand is always more expensive compared to others, but I guess advertising on prime time tv with sports people don't come cheap :) I've stopped buying them and choose the smaller lesser known labels instead

          I'm lucky to have a Mr Vitamins nearby and I've just checked, all the multivitamins/supplements that we have in our cupboard are all made and owned in Australia. Their Children's supplements have less sugar than the main stream brands as well

  • eatwell365 on 20/12/2014 - 03:59
    -1

    Great point OP. This came across my mind when shopping as well. We have food labelling law, but the monitoring seems to be nil. Especially some import processed food, the ingredient charts are just made up and for show only. You can be eating a pack of dried plum, it says 0% sodium or 0.0001 g sugar. No preservstives on soya milk drink but can last for 1 month.

  • c64 on 20/12/2014 - 13:12

    you should also be skeptical as to whether your alternative medicine actually does anything benefical

    • [Deactivated] on 20/12/2014 - 15:18

      Yes I am, I don't take such supplements as I believe a balanced diet is more than sufficient. However, relatives are different. I am a biotech grad but my mom seem to think her friends are more qualified to give her advice on pharmaceuticals. Easier for me to buy them but I would like to make sure they are at least of good quality and safe regardless of effectiveness (like candy for the believers).

  • adamren on 20/12/2014 - 22:46
    +1

    On ABC those two or three Chaser guys did a great piece on Swisse. The show was called The Checkout.

  • adamren on 20/12/2014 - 22:49
    +1

    Balanced diet isn't enough for most people. That's why they're called supplements.

    Also if you take certain drugs it depletes other things so you must supplement. Anyone on any type of heart or blood medication should be taking CoQ10 as well. Most good docs know this.

    Krill oil or taking something to get EFA is good. We also don't make our own Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and depending on diet and if you exercise a lot you might need to supplement.

    I can just see the deluge of replies so I'm just going to end it here and not bother responding.

    • eve on 22/12/2014 - 03:11
      +1

      A balanced diet IS enough for most people. The only other things that "most good docs" should be prescribing to supplement this is regular exercise and a bit of sunlight daily. The problem lies in being able to get these things or as you said, there are other issues complicating the matter (e.g. other drugs).

      However, there isn't current evidence to support the use of supplemental CoQ10 in the setting of cardiovascular conditions or heart/blood drugs (see Cochrane reviews 2014). Not saying that it doesn't work, but that there aren't quality studies supporting this yet. So if your doctor is saying you "should" be taking CoQ10 then they aren't following evidence based guidelines - which definitely affects your hip pocket but possibly doesn't help your overall health.

      • adamren on 22/12/2014 - 15:42
        -1

        Drugs depletes something you supplement it. Simple. No research required. I don't pay much attention to self-funded research, and the rest have conflict issues etc. Not much real true research is done anymore.

        If it works for you then do it. Anecdotal research is good enough for most cases when it comes to health.

        I rarely go to the doc but I doubt they'd ever prescribe 'exercise and sunlight' one because they don't make any money on it and two the patients aren't going to do it. If people really want to be healthy and exercise they would.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/12/2014 - 03:22
    -2

    zzzzzzzzzzzzz who cares.

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