To claim health benefits, you should be required to provide evidence (“Natural selection”, December 10).
Complementary medicines, including herbal medicine and homeopathy, may well be popular in countries such as France and Switzerland, and may well be covered by health insurance, but that doesn’t mean those countries have got it right.
New Zealanders should not be paying for products that have not been clinically tested for efficacy and safety. Plant-based products are not necessarily safe, nor lower risk than medicines. Kiwi consumers are paying big bucks for complementary medicines that may be ineffective and, in some cases, even dangerous.
We should not allow export exemption for dietary supplements for the reason that “we’re missing out on $500 million a year”. Rather, we should invest in science and show that these products actually do what they are assumed to do – and safely.
Complementary medicine is a profitable industry and can afford to do the necessary double-blind studies. Then, and only then, should we consider exporting such products.
Any substance that can produce a beneficial effect in the body also has the
