FDA caution public on food supplements

Mr Vigil Prah-Eshun, Ashanti Regional Director of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), has cautioned the general public against patronizing health facilities that claim to use food supplements to cure all sorts of diseases.

He said the wrongful use of food supplements in treating all kinds of diseases could result in worsening of the patience conditions leading to early deaths.

In an interview with Ghana news Agency (GNA) in Kumasi, he stressed that ‘‘food supplements are not medicines but have therapeutic indicators for body growth.’’

He observed that the health centers are engaged in fraudulent diagnosis, using unapproved and uncertified medical devices in treating their patience with food supplements for the treatment of heart diseases, cancers, kidney diseases among others.

Mr Ashun said it is difficult to get all the vitamins and other nutrients from food alone hence the need for food supplements for other useful multivitamin sources to provide the needed nutrients for body growth.

The FDA director also lamented over dietary supplement risks saying, excess of vitamin A (more than 25,000 IU’s a day, five times the recommended dose) can cause blurred vision, headaches, hair loss, and liver damage.

Additionally, he noted that, too much of vitamin B6 (more than 400 mgs a day, 200 times the recommended dose) can cause numbness in the hands and difficulty walking.

He advised the public to make fruits part of their daily food supplement and always talk to a doctor or pharmacist before using any new supplements on the potential interactions with other medications.

He said the post market surveillance is on the grounds to deal with all crooks, according to the law, and urged the public to report any health facilities involved in such fraudulent treatment schemes to the FDA centers across the nation.