Information Update

2007-156
November 2, 2007
For immediate release

New Multi-Vitamin/Mineral Supplement Monograph Will Ease Licensing of Safe, Effective Natural Health Products

OTTAWA - Health Canada has published a new multi-vitamin/mineral monograph for natural health products. The new monograph will help to make licensing easier for a broader range of products, and will further ensure that Canadians have access to products that are well prepared, safe to use and effective. The monograph will also help ensure that multi-vitamin/mineral products provide clear instructions to consumers on their labels.

The new monograph applies to natural health products containing any two or more vitamins or minerals. More Canadians are using natural health products, which come in many forms including vitamin and mineral supplements. An example of a multi-vitamin/mineral is a vitamin supplement that contains several vitamins and/or minerals (e.g. vitamins A, B, C and D).

The multi-vitamin/mineral supplement monograph is one of many natural health product monographs that have been published by Health Canada since 2004, when the Natural Health Products Regulations came into force. Monographs are scientific documents that provide authoritative information about the safe and effective use of a substance or ingredient.

The new multi-vitamin/mineral monograph builds upon previous single ingredient vitamin and mineral monographs and features a more expansive list of materials and their recommended uses or purposes. Furthermore the monograph requires multi-vitamin/mineral products to include specific instructions on how they are to be used, as well as cautionary statements. These requirements have been incorporated into the monograph to further ensure that licensed multi-vitamin/mineral products are safe and effective, and are used properly.

In accordance with the Natural Health Products Regulations, products already on the market will have to comply with the requirements in the new monograph.

Products that are manufactured, sold or represented for use as a food, including beverages, are not included in the monograph.

For more information on the multi-vitamin/mineral monograph and the Natural Health Products Regulations, please visit www.healthcanada.gc.ca/nhp

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