[LuShenPai] Specific Hou Ton Qing , [AA] Pe Min Kan Wan

Foreign Product Alert
2012-15
January 25, 2012
For immediate release

Health Canada is advising consumers not to use the products specified below due to concerns about possible side-effects. More info

Source of Alert

Hong Kong Department of Health

Product Names

• [LuShenPai] Specific Hou Ton Qing
• [AA] Pe Min Kan Wan

Manufacturer / Place of Origin

[LuShenPai] Specific Hou Ton Qing is imported into Hong Kong by Sing Kwan Trading Co.

[AA] Pe Min Kan Wan is imported into Hong Kong by M & A Natural Healthcare Products Company Limited.

Product Description

[LuShenPai] Specific Hou Ton Qing is promoted as a traditional Chinese medicine used to relieve throat discomfort.

[AA] Pe Min Kan Wan is promoted as a traditional Chinese medicine used to relieve stuffy, runny nose.

Reason for Warning

The Hong Kong Department of Health (DH) warned consumers to not use these products after they were found to contain excessive levels of arsenic or mercury, which are heavy metals:

Product	Heavy Metal	Batch #
[LuShenPai] Specific Hou Ton Qing	Arsenic (about 17.5 times the permitted level in Hong Kong)	100601
[AA] Pe Min Kan Wan	Mercury (about 2.7 times the permitted level in Hong Kong)	1495

The levels of arsenic and mercury found in these products exceed Health Canada’s permissible limits.

Ingestion of excessive amounts of heavy metals poses serious health risks because they may accumulate in vital organs of the body. Children are most susceptible to the toxic effects of heavy metals.

Possible Side-Effects

The toxic effects of arsenic include skin and lung cancers, heart and lung diseases, and brain damage.

The toxic effects of mercury include irritability, tremors, memory loss, insomnia, concentration problems, and kidney and brain damage.

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Media Enquiries:
Health Canada
(613) 957-2983

For more details on these Foreign Product Alerts, please visit the Health Canada Web site.

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These products are not authorized for sale in Canada and have not been found in the Canadian marketplace, but it is possible they may have been brought into the country by travellers or purchased over the Internet.

Canadians who have this product are advised not to use it, and should consult with a health care professional if they have concerns about their health related to the use of this product.

Drugs and natural health products that are authorized for sale in Canada will have either an eight-digit Drug Identification Number (DIN), a Natural Product Number (NPN) or a Homeopathic Medicine Number (DIN-HM) on the label. These numbers indicate that the products have been assessed by Health Canada for safety, effectiveness and quality.

Health Canada advises Canadians to contact the Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate at 1-800-267-9675 if they find the product listed above in the Canadian marketplace.

For more information about the information contained in this advisory, please contact Health Canada's public inquiries line at (613) 957-2991 or toll-free at 1-866-225-0709.

As of the date of this posting, no adverse reactions suspected to be associated with the use of this product have been reported in Canada.