30 June 2008
It has come to the attention of the Department of Health that a herbal plant called Comfrey is still being offered to the public as herbal tea or as an ingredient in foodstuffs, five years after the sale of this substance was banned in 2003.
The sale of Comfrey as a foodstuff has been prohibited in terms of the Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act1972 (Act 54 of 1972). Comfrey containing products with medicinal claims are not yet regulated as complementary medicines. Regulations in this regard are still being finalised.
The Regulations Relating to the Prohibition of the Sale of Comfrey, Foodstuffs Containing Comfrey and Jelly Confectionery Containing Konjac, were published in the Government Gazettee on 10 October 2003, to prohibit the use of Comfrey as a foodstuff.
Comfrey contains a compound Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PA). Consumption of contaminated grain or the use of PA-containing plants as herbal medicines, beverages, or food by man, may cause acute or chronic disease.
The principal target organ is the liver, which could result in chronic liver disorders and/or cancer in humans.
The manufacture, sale and importation of the foodstuffs in question is illegal in South Africa and any person convicted of an offence under the Act is liable for the following:-
The Department of Health has requested the Environmental Health Practitioners employed by the provinces and municipalities to investigate and ensure that no foodstuffs containing Comfrey as an ingredient, is manufactured, sold in or imported into South Africa.
In the event of such products being found, it should be seized, condemned and destroyed in terms of the regulations authorizing such steps, as well as to consider prosecuting the persons concerned in terms of Act 54 of 1972.
The Department of Health has also advised the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa (CGCSA), a body that represents some of the major retailers and food manufacturers of the matter and has requested that they inform their members as applicable of the prohibition of the sale of Comfrey as a foodstuff.
The Department of Health urges the public not to obtain or use Comfrey as a foodstuff, or foodstuffs containing it as an ingredient in view of the dangers to their health associated with the consumption thereof as mentioned above.
The prohibition of Comfrey in terms of the mentioned Regulations applies only to products, which are intended to be use as a foodstuff.
For more information contact Charity Bhengu 083 679 7424
Issued by Department of Health
On behalf:-
Ms Mandisa Hela
Registrar of Medicines Control Council (MCC)