Brazilian Food and Drug organism attacks supplement industry and national s
Thursday, January 1st, 2009In November, Brazilian Food and Drug agency, ANVISA, proposed a bill according to which, if approved, supplements will be only be sold, under prescription, to high performance athletes. The agency established a period (that ends now, in January 13th ) for “public consultation”, during which the “public” may let their opinion known through e-mail, fax or letters to specific official addresses. This decision has been almost secret, having received practically no attention from the press.
On a first look, it might seem just another act of utter incompetence coming from a government that placed Union leaders in technical positions, instead of properly educated and experienced personnel. Looking closer, however, other agendas become evident. For about two years the Drugstore and Farmacy lobby has been putting pressure (and gaining ground) on the government in order to restrict the commercialization of certain products such as creatine and BCAA, on the grounds that their consumption may be harmful.
The insipient supplement industry and commerce have been unable to counter-act the huge Drugstore lobby, believed to be backed by the Pharmaceutical industry.
The other side of this picture is government corruption, combined with a Stalinist authoritarian hyper-regulative approach. Unfortunately, our local Stalinists have not inherited the opportunistic view of the original ones concerning high-performance sports.
Most Brazilian athletes come from underpriviledged segments of society. They would never have the resources to pay regular visits to nutritionists to get prescriptions for their supplements.
If ANVISA wins this war against the supplement industry, supplement retailers and athletes, it will take years to re-introduce again a scientifically sound and modern approach to nutrition and sports performance.
The official links to the facts above are the following:
http://www.anvisa.gov.br/divulga/noticias/2008/141108.htm
http://www4.anvisa.gov.br/base/visadoc/CP/CP%5B24416-1-0%5D.PDF
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