How do you know your supplements are safe?
When you walk into your local health food store, you can find all kinds of safe, effective and high-quality supplements, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, herbal products and traditional medicines. All these products make up the category of natural health products (NHPs) that you and 79 per cent of Canadians use for the maintenance of good health. These NHPs could include vitamin C to reduce the duration and severity of the common cold. Or a probiotic to keep your immune system primed and ready to combat those winter bugs. Or vitamin D, since there are few natural dietary sources and because supplementing with vitamin D is almost universally recommended, particularly for those in greatest need, such as infants and the elderly. Whatever NHPs you choose, it is important to know Canada is a global leader in the regulation of these products. The Canadian approach to regulation is often referred to as a “pre-approval” system, which means that all NHPs must be licensed b...