Alert issued on health supplements

April 15, 2011

The Consumer Council warns health supplements are not suitable for everybody and can even be life-threatening, saying it received 16 complaints about the efficacy and sale of health food and supplements in the year’s first quarter.
 
In one case an elderly woman was recommended a "chlorella supplement" by a "doctor" who claimed to have a master’s degree. She was told to take 90 tablets of the supplement for its alleged detoxifying and slimming effects. She bought $1,600 worth of the supplement.
 
After taking it for three weeks, she felt acute pain in her chest and was sent to hospital. Doctors said her condition was likely caused by taking an excessive amount of the supplement which contained vitamin K, a blood thickener for patients on anticoagulant warfarin.
 
Another case involved an elderly man persuaded to buy an "enzyme product" claimed to be good for diabetics like him. He bought six packets for $4,400 each. Labels were only in Japanese.
 
Soon after taking the tablets, he fell ill. A doctor said the calories in the product were too high for him. A blood glucose test found his blood sugar had risen by two units.
 
The council warned consumers that companies reach out to elderly people through free health tests or seminars, where they are lured by free gifts and endorsements from "experts" and "users".
 
Some of these marketing activities take place at shopping malls on short-term tenancy to attract customers. As these companies will move out or shut down after a period of time, consumers may find it difficult to follow problems up.