Supplement regulations

Question 1

What are dietary supplements

Answer 1

Also known as natural health products, they are vitamins and minerals, herbal remedies, traditional medicines, probiotics, or amino acids and essential fatty acids

Question 2

How are NHP’s regulated?

Answer 2

Natural and non-prescription and HP‘s require that they must be safe to use as over-the-counter products, they are not required as a prescription

Products that need a subscription or regulated as drugs under the food and drug regulations

Question 3

Monographs

Answer 3

Health Canada has created a natural products ingredients database, which includes monographs that identify the product, description, form, dose use, and warnings.

Question 4

What must labels include?

Answer 4

Brand name, license holder name, contact information, proper or common name for each ingredients, strength of product, recommended use , warnings, population that product is meant for and storage instructions

Question 5

Licensed products must have one of two things

Answer 5

1. An NPN. = natural product number.
2. A DIN-HM = homeopathic medicine number

Question 6

Ordering supplements online

Answer 6

Be careful as they may be expired, contaminated, come from unknown/dangerous sources, not work, the strong ingredients, make fake health claims or not legally souls

Question 7

The six steps of NHP safety

Answer 7

1. Talk to a healthcare professional before choosing a product
2. Let your healthcare provider know what drugs and NHP’s you are using to minimize drug interaction.
3. Use approved products with either the NPN or DIN-HM
4. Be spectacle of health for related claims, don’t rely on advertisements.
5. And follow all instructions on product label.
6. Report unwanted side effects to your healthcare provider.