Cancer-causing herbal remedy still on shelves despite recall
More than 900 packs of the herbal medicine Jingzhi Kesou Tan Chuan Wan are thought to be circulating despite a distributor recall.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said yesterday that the unlicensed product was distributed to 20 shops and clinics selling traditional Chinese and herbal medicines.
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Hide AdEkong International (UK) Ltd, which distributes the tablets, issued a recall last month but more than three-quarters of the stock has still not been returned.
Packs of the product, brought to the UK from China, have had a new English label put on to hide the original label which contained the Chinese symbols for aristolochia, a banned toxic and carcinogenic derivative of a plant.
Exposure to aristolochic acids can result in kidney failure and cancer, particularly of the urinary tract, the MHRA said.
Richard Woodfield, head of herbal policy at the MHRA, said: "This is a clear example where natural does not necessarily mean safe."