Foreign Product Alert

2007-161
November 14, 2007
For immediate release

Health Canada is advising consumers not to use the following product listed in the table below due to concerns about possible side-effects. More info

Royal Medic No.1 Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (lot numbers RM 630021, RM 630023 and RM 6300026)

Date of alert	November 14, 2007
Source of Alert	Hong Kong Department of Health (HKDH)
Product Name	Royal Medic No.1 Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (lot numbers RM 630021, RM 630023 and RM 6300026)
Manufacturer / Place of Origin	Unknown manufacturer, distributed by Royal Medic (Holdings) Ltd. /unknown place of origin
Products Description	Royal Medic No.1 Chinese Caterpillar Fungus is a proprietary Chinese medicine promoted as a general health tonic. Packaging is dark green with Chinese writing, with a picture of a medicine capsule on the right hand side. The capsules are half red and half white.
Reason for Warning	The Hong Kong Department of Health (HKDH) advised the public not to purchase or consume three batches of the proprietary Chinese medicine, Royal Medic No.1 Chinese Caterpillar Fungus (lot numbers RM 630021, RM 630023 and RM 6300026) due to microbial contamination.
Possible Side Effects	Microbiological contamination of health products can pose a risk to human health and may cause a variety of adverse effects, including bacterial infection. Children, pregnant/nursing women, people with weak immune systems, and the elderly have potentially a higher risk of bacterial infection. Consumers exposed to microbial contaminated health products may display various signs and symptoms depending on the type of bacteria present.

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Media Inquiries:
Alastair Sinclair
Health Canada
(613) 957-1803

This product is not authorized for sale in Canada and has not been found in the Canadian marketplace. However, it is possible this product could be purchased by Canadians travelling abroad or has been brought into Canada through personal importation by travellers or purchased over the Internet.

Canadians who have this product are advised not to use it, and should consult with a health care professional if they have concerns about their health related to the use of this product.

Drugs and natural health products that are authorized for sale in Canada will have either an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), a Natural Product Number (NPN) or a Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) on the label. These numbers indicate that the products have been assessed by Health Canada for safety, effectiveness and quality.

Health Canada advises Canadians to contact the Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate at 1-800-267-9675 if they find the product listed in the table in the Canadian marketplace.

For more information about the information contained in this advisory, please contact Health Canada's public inquiries line at (613) 957-2991 or toll-free at 1-866-225-0709.

As of the date of this posting, no adverse reactions suspected to be associated with the use of this product have been reported in Canada.