Medicinal Products With Herbal Ingedients on the UK Market

[david@naughtyvend]

I'm sure everyone in 'washroom' is aware that those little blue pills are a top seller at the moment but what steps have you taken to be compliant with new regulations that will be in force by May 01st 2011?

Most manufacturers have taken the route of switching to Food Supplements and should of course be compliant with food legislation including those around the Novel Foods, EC258/97 regulations however that doesn't make the product compliant if the packaging is not up to code and / or the herbal ingedients are retsricted in any way. This has not gone un-noticed by the MHRA and factually there are products on the market which contain restricted herbals, make claims of metabolic change or medicinal benefit i.e. get an erection or have better sex etc. These will require a Product Licence which costs tens of thousands and will not qualify under the THMPD scheme as traditional... I could rabbit on as to why but it's a bore... So how will this affect us as vending businesses...?

Well even with a compliant product (i.e. one which makes no marketing claims that would classify the product thus medicinal) all of our vending machines point of sales will need changed by May 01st, even "Better Performance" could be a medicinal claim in the eyes of Trading Standards and I have a letter here from the MHRA (Raj Gor) giving big hints about what's around the corner. Whilst our own product is ready, I know our machines are not and this is a headache because how can anyone be sure the retailers selling their products are bothered about being compliant, just look at Ebay for goodness sake.

How are you going to deal with this, do you know if your "Blue" product is compliant and do you understand what changes need made to your marketing materials? Has the MHRA done their job properly here to ensure safety whilst considering the intrests of the vending community in Britain?

[Happyvending]

I'm sure everyone in 'washroom' is aware that those little blue pills are a top seller at the moment but what steps have you taken to be compliant with new regulations that will be in force by May 01st 2011?

Most manufacturers have taken the route of switching to Food Supplements and should of course be compliant with food legislation including those around the Novel Foods, EC258/97 regulations however that doesn't make the product compliant if the packaging is not up to code and / or the herbal ingedients are retsricted in any way. This has not gone un-noticed by the MHRA and factually there are products on the market which contain restricted herbals, make claims of metabolic change or medicinal benefit i.e. get an erection or have better sex etc. These will require a Product Licence which costs tens of thousands and will not qualify under the THMPD scheme as traditional... I could rabbit on as to why but it's a bore... So how will this affect us as vending businesses...?

Well even with a compliant product (i.e. one which makes no marketing claims that would classify the product thus medicinal) all of our vending machines point of sales will need changed by May 01st, even "Better Performance" could be a medicinal claim in the eyes of Trading Standards and I have a letter here from the MHRA (Raj Gor) giving big hints about what's around the corner. Whilst our own product is ready, I know our machines are not and this is a headache because how can anyone be sure the retailers selling their products are bothered about being compliant, just look at Ebay for goodness sake.

How are you going to deal with this, do you know if your "Blue" product is compliant and do you understand what changes need made to your marketing materials? Has the MHRA done their job properly here to ensure safety whilst considering the intrests of the vending community in Britain?

david,

they will never be able to police what yiu are saying mate, the uk are not adhearing to the euro decision to ban all herbal products anyway so as far as i see it there will not be a problem, they do not have the man power to police it even if they did ban something--that is a fact, so tell me if yours are herbal how are you getting round this?

[david@naughtyvend]

I'm sure everyone in 'washroom' is aware that those little blue pills are a top seller at the moment but what steps have you taken to be compliant with new regulations that will be in force by May 01st 2011?

Most manufacturers have taken the route of switching to Food Supplements and should of course be compliant with food legislation including those around the Novel Foods, EC258/97 regulations however that doesn't make the product compliant if the packaging is not up to code and / or the herbal ingedients are retsricted in any way. This has not gone un-noticed by the MHRA and factually there are products on the market which contain restricted herbals, make claims of metabolic change or medicinal benefit i.e. get an erection or have better sex etc. These will require a Product Licence which costs tens of thousands and will not qualify under the THMPD scheme as traditional... I could rabbit on as to why but it's a bore... So how will this affect us as vending businesses...?

Well even with a compliant product (i.e. one which makes no marketing claims that would classify the product thus medicinal) all of our vending machines point of sales will need changed by May 01st, even "Better Performance" could be a medicinal claim in the eyes of Trading Standards and I have a letter here from the MHRA (Raj Gor) giving big hints about what's around the corner. Whilst our own product is ready, I know our machines are not and this is a headache because how can anyone be sure the retailers selling their products are bothered about being compliant, just look at Ebay for goodness sake.

How are you going to deal with this, do you know if your "Blue" product is compliant and do you understand what changes need made to your marketing materials? Has the MHRA done their job properly here to ensure safety whilst considering the intrests of the vending community in Britain?

david,

they will never be able to police what yiu are saying mate, the uk are not adhearing to the euro decision to ban all herbal products anyway so as far as i see it there will not be a problem, they do not have the man power to police it even if they did ban something--that is a fact, so tell me if yours are herbal how are you getting round this?

We're not selling herbal any more, the product has been completely changed in formulation to be a food supplement and has been checked for compliance by the HFMA as well as LAPAD. I agree the MHRA may never be able to police at a vending level but instead will target (a) manufacturers, suppliers and importers (b) public awareness (c) potential retail sites.

In my opinion better safe than sorry, if it were really true that you'd be unlikely to get caught breaking the law everyone would be selling Kamagra from vending machines... doubt me, read this >> http://www.mhra.gov.uk/NewsCentre/Press ... /CON108870" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Happyvending]

ring the mhra and ask them what they are doing about golden root, they will tell you that they have nothing to do with it anymore, that is a fact, if some one on here reads this then they can put you right as they spoke to them today---long live golden root mate..

send me a couple of yours so i can see if they work or not Dave.

[david@naughtyvend]

ring the mhra and ask them what they are doing about golden root, they will tell you that they have nothing to do with it anymore, that is a fact, if some one on here reads this then they can put you right as they spoke to them today---long live golden root mate..

send me a couple of yours so i can see if they work or not Dave.

There are two seperate issues here Dave, you'll note that I have not referenced any particular product however you have mentioned one by name... this isn't the point we're making, we're talking about how the product(s) are sold.

Firstly read this >> http://www.mhra.gov.uk/home/groups/pl-p ... 030651.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

That document on 'Page 3' shows a flow chart where the most applicable part is 12(2) Medicines Act, if a product has a trade name follow the YES line and keep in mind if the product were sold by what it is eg. dried apples then if said product was a mixture of dried apples, nuts and figs that is what it would need to be called under this directive. "Capsules Containing Dried Apples, Nuts and Figs" for THR. Also note that, this is the important bit Has no written recommendation of use whch just about every blue pill type product does have on the packet or vending point of sale... following the flow chart you need THR or a Product Licence a.k.a. Marketing Authority as the product under the eyes of the MHRA Borderline Unit is medicinal. Which is where we end up selling products such as these as Food Supplements..., but you can not just plaster 'Food Supplement' on the pack and keep your fingers crossed. I can tell you that it's highly unlikely a product licence would be granted which costs a mint regardless, that because the claim you'd need to make is a correction of a serious medical condition i.e. floppy **** that traditional herbal is also not an option...

Others in production of these style of products fall into these classifications and I know they have made the same changes (we have all spoken to each other), Terry and I met in London in November. What we are addressing here are the other guys whom are selling products and still suggesting these are for erectile dysfunction, what we do not need is the media placing a spotlight on our industry forcing the MHRA to do something about it and we've all been resting upon the Transitional Status for as long as we could but now that time is up. Which ever product of this type you are selling do you understand that the point of sale on your vending machine probably needs changed so that there are no claims upon it? If it has "claims" then it becomes medicinal even is it's a raisin or bit of chocolate you have in the pack, no kidding, which makes it MHRA territory.

Just one more thing though, the root extract of the Rhodiola Rosea is not permitted in Food Products and is classified medicinal - well last I checked in Novemeber 2010. Are you saying that the classification has been ammended by the MHRA to permit this as a herbal ingredient in both foods and medicines? Whom did you speak to, Judith...? This isn't marketing Dave and a "whose product is best" statement, if the industry get this wrong everyone could lose out on a top selling product, they were on breakfast telly a few months ago wittering on about this topic and we don't need the attention.

By the way, I do stock Golden Root myself.

[Happyvending]

too much for me to read, just got in a fcuked