Sweden finds arsenic tainted herbal cures

herbal medOn Tuesday, Swedish food safety analysts stated that they had found herbal cures laced with arsenic. The National Food Agency said the remedies had originally been discovered on the shelves of pharmacists in Stockholm.

A spokesperson for the agency said they thought officers had located all of these remedies. The agency says it is worried that the product might still be on shop-shelves in other cities in the country or that internet retailers might be holding stocks of it.

Toxicologist Leif Busk works for the food agency and he said that recommended daily doses of the herbal remedies contained an amount of arsenic equal to half that needed to kill the average adult. He added that although the amount of arsenic was not lethal, it was certainly enough to cause severe illness.

He finished by saying that it was a scary thought that there were still companies out there selling arsenic tainted medicine. The agency says it has alerted other countries in Europe to the health risk of the remedies.

The food agency said the remedies had been packaged with three different brand names. Investigators discovered the remedies in Indian wrappings bearing the names Chandraprabha Vati and Divya Kaishore Guggul. The panaceas also came with the name Niu-Huang Chieh-tu-pien on them.

Online retailers of Niu-Huang Chieh-tu-pien claim it is a wonder-cure that can be used to treat diverse ailments. The ads say the product is effective against skin allergies, anorexia nervosa, fevers and even toothache.

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