The use of traditional herbal medicines in Canada has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. This adjustment is partially due to the increasing complexity of the pharmaceutical market, discontent with conventional treatments and increasing demands for physician care.

The overwhelming demand for herbal products has resulted in the creation of a new and profitable market. This supplements market has now become an explosive industry in North America. Canadians alone spent over $680 million on vitamins and herbal supplements in 1997 and this year is projected to increase to $1 Billion

Under Canadian law, Vitamins and Minerals are regulated as Drugs, and therefore must be manufactured according to very strict procedures.

These include:

1. All proposed products must be reviewed by Health Canada for ingredient compliance to acceptable forms and potency limits.
2. A Drug Identification Number (DIN) is issued by Health Canada after months of examination, if the proposed product complies.
3. Ingredients must be chemically analyzed and identified before they can be used in manufacture.
4. There are very strict regulations in place which make the possibility of mistakes almost non-existent. These procedures comply with local authorities’ Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) guidelines.
5. All products must have an expiry date on the label, lot number, list of ingredients and their potencies, which means that if the label claims 100 mg of Vitamin C, there will actually be 120mg of Vitamin C at the time of manufacture. (Vitamin C deteriorates over time and so the extra 20 mg assures that at the date of “expiry” there will still be at least the amount that is claimed on the label, which is 100 mg).
6. After manufacturing is complete, chemical analysis is completed by an independent laboratory on the finished product, which proves the presence of all of the ingredients as well as their potency levels.

We have actually only listed 6 of the more important requirements by Canada, but there are many, many more.

Under U.S. law, these products are considered to be “dietary supplements” or “foods” and as such, NONE of the above Canadian requirements are needed or in most cases followed. Of course, there are always some conscious companies that produce products correctly, but since the laws do not require strict manufacturing, many products that claim 100 mg of Calcium or Vitamin C for example, may only contain 60 mg at the time of manufacture and there is little done about it by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States.

With regards to Nutrican brand products without DINs, as well as other non-vitamin dietary supplements are regulated as FOODS in Canada and thus, no DINs are issued. Nutrican however, must conform to the various regulations and we will always be adherent to these guidelines.

As well, for these products classified under Foods, Nutrican does ensures that all the ingredients and clearly marked on each product label as duly required by Canadian law.

• Our Manufacturing Facilities
• Our Manufacturing Process
• Our Testing Methods
• Professional Affiliations
• Drug Identification Numbers (DINs)
• Word on Regulation of Herbal Products in Canada
• NUTRICAN PRODUCTS vs OTHER CANADIAN PRODUCTS
• Nutrican Sources of Information, Reference, and Consultation