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Dr Laure Martinat (Anesthesiologist-resuscitator)
In an opinion issued on Thursday, ANSES intends to provide better information on plant-based food supplements. Far from being innocuous, certain plants can interact with a treatment and represent a risk. The point with Laure Martinat naturopath and expert in phyto-aromatherapy.
Plant-based food supplements are attracting more and more French people in search of naturalness. But beware, these products are not without risk. Thus the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) has just published a new advice on the risks and possible interactions depending on the plants useds. It thus wishes to improve consumer information.
“Herbal” Doesn’t Mean Safe
Unlike drugs, food supplements sometimes sold over the counter do not include mandatory instructions. Only some brief information, such as the list of ingredients, should be indicated. This can encourage people to consume it without asking too many questions. In addition, many consumers serve themselves, without the advice of a professional.
“The mere mention of the presence of plants in food supplements can sometimes be falsely reassuring for the consumer, while certain plants may present a risk under certain conditions of use, depending on the type of plant extracts or the sensitivity of populations. individuals, such as pregnant women or children”, stresses ANSES.
A precise table to find your way around
To avoid adverse effects and with the aim of better informing consumers and health professionals alike, ANSES has adapted the existing statements and restrictions for herbal medicinal products, by transposing them to food supplements containing these same herbs, in a notice dated June 8.
There are cited: all the precautions for use, recommendations, contraindications and potential drug interactions relating to 118 medicinal plants used in food supplements.
ANSES also recommends that manufacturers explicitly state on the instructions or packaging any restrictions on use related to the presence of plants. It also invites caregivers to better train themselves in the safety and use of the plants contained in these supplements.
Better train to deal with uneven information found on the net
Far from stigmatizing herbal supplements, ANSES’s opinion is on the contrary an excellent thing for Laure Martinat, naturopath and expert in phyto-aromatherapy, member of our committee of experts.
“This opinion shows that these experts are very interested in food supplements and medicinal plants, and thus indirectly recognize that medicinal plants have a real effect. They also insist on the need for health professionals to be trained in the safety and use of plants, a good thing when you know that medical training hardly addresses the subject. I validate this idea: there is a real need for training support, and a good quality network on the issue, to deal with the wealth of information found on the internet, of very unequal quality”
Concretely, the table delivered with the notice is also a necessary progress and very practical tool.
“It’s interesting work that allows health professionals who are not trained in food supplements to see the composition and to refer to this table to see the interactions, give the first information on vigilance, correct their practice or guide the patient to a better trained professional. All of this is very beneficial for the patient.”