Browsing by Subject "Laboratory screen testing"
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- ItemOpen AccessMelamine contamination in nutritional supplements - Is it an alarm bell for the general consumer, athletes, and 'Weekend Warriors'?(BioMed Central Ltd, 2015) Gabriels, Gary; Lambert, Mike; Smith, Pete; Wiesner, Lubbe; Hiss, DonavonBACKGROUND: Nutritional supplements are used or experimented with by consumers, notably these are; competitive and recreational athletes of all ages, and 'weekend warriors'. As a consequence the supplement industry has grown to meet the increasing demand. A Global Industry Analysts Inc. report indicates that the herbal supplement market has not declined during the worldwide recession, but in fact exhibited steady growth over the period 2008 to 2009. It is anticipated that the market will reach US$93.15 billion by the year 2015. These supplements may contain adulterated substances that may potentially have harmful short - and long-term health consequences to the consumer. "Scrap Melamine" is such an example, which has been implicated in the kidney failure and death of several cats, dogs and pigs. In China in 2008, reports described very severe health effects in infants and young children. At the time over 294 000 infants were screened and diagnosed with urinary tract stones and sand-like calculi associated with melamine in milk products, of which 50 000 infants were hospitalised, and at least six associated deaths, recorded. The extent that melamine contamination occurs in nutritional supplements is not known. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine whether commercially available nutritional and traditional supplement products contain melamine, even though they are not declared by the manufacturer on the product label. METHODS: A total of 138 nutritional supplements products were obtained from (i) direct purchases from shops, pharmacies and outlets, (ii) directly from consumers, and (iii) from suppliers, manufacturers and distributors. The products were laboratory analysed for melamine, using Tandem Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry. RESULTS: Forty-seven % of all the products (n=138) tested positive for melamine. Eight-two % of the South African produced products (n=27) tested positive and 58 % of the products imported into South Africa (n=50) tested positive. The median concentration estimate for melamine in the products tested were, 6.0 mug/g for the 138 supplements tested, 8.9 mug/g for South African produced products, and 6.9 mug/g for products imported into South Africa. CONCLUSION: The melamine (undeclared on product label) levels detected in the nutritional supplements products investigated were within the Tolerable Daily intake (TDI) limit guidelines of 200 mug/g as set by WHO and others. Melamine over exposure within the context of the nutritional supplements consumption in the products investigated should not be of concern to the consumer provided the recommended guidelines of daily product use are adhered to. Further investigation is warranted to determine, (i) the link of melamine as (part) substitute for the perceived total declared protein content on the product label, (ii) cyanuric and uric acid presence in the supplement products that could form chemical-complex formation with melamine and/or analogues that could cause adverse health effects.
- ItemOpen AccessNutritional supplement products: does the label information influence purchasing decisions for the physically active?(BioMed Central Ltd, 2013) Gabriels, Gary; Lambert, MikeBACKGROUND: The increase in sales of nutritional supplement globally can be attributed, in part, to aggressive marketing by manufacturers, rather than because the nutritional supplements have become more effective. Furthermore, the accuracy of the labelling often goes unchallenged. Therefore, any effects of the supplement, may be due to contaminants or adulterants in these products not reflected on the label. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was used to determine how consumers of nutritional supplements acquired information to assist their decision-making processes, when purchasing a product. The study was approved by the University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences Human Research Ethics Committee. The questionnaire consisted of seven, closed and open-ended questions. The participants were asked to respond to the questions according to a defined list of statements. A total of 259 participants completed and returned questionnaires. The data and processing of the returned questionnaires was captured using Windows-based Microsoft(R) Office Excel 2003 SP 1 (Excel (c) 1985-2003 Microsoft Corporation). Statistica Version 10 (copyright (c) Stat Soft, Inc. 1984-2011) was used to calculate the descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The main finding of the study was that nearly 70% of the respondents who purchased supplements were strongly influenced by container label information that stipulated that the nutritional supplement product is free of banned substances. The second finding was that just over 50% of the respondents attached importance to the quality of the nutritional supplement product information on the container label. The third finding was that about 40% of the respondents were strongly influenced by the ingredients on the labels when they purchased nutritional supplements. CONCLUSION: This study, (i) identifies short-comings in current labelling information practices, (ii) provides opportunities to improve label and non-label information and communication, and, (iii) presents the case for quality assurance laboratory "screening testing" of declared and undeclared contaminants and/or adulterants, that could have negative consequences to the consumer.