A legal challenge to the current status of glucosamine products is a watershed moment for the health food trade with major implications for both suppliers and retailers.
That’s the warning from the Health Food Manufacturers’ Association (HFMA) as a prescription licence holder mounts a challenge in the High Court to have glucosamine reclassified as a medicine.
While there have been several previous challenges to the MHRA’s position that glucosamine is not a medicine, the latest challenge is seen as the most determined yet. In the latest case the company concerned is seeking a Judicial Review at the High Court. It will seek a declaration from the Court that all glucosamine containing products (GCPs) are medicinal – and only for the relief of osteo-arthiritis of the knee, or failing that a declaration that all GCPs marketed with a daily recommended dose of 1500 mg are medicinal products.
HFMA executive director Graham Keen says there would be “serious and far-reaching implications” if this latest challenge were successful. “Not only would the highly valuable food glucosamine market be lost to the health food trade, there would also immediately be implications for the future food supplement status of other substances, in particular those that have licensed equivalents – for example, cod liver oil, folic acid, and vitamins D and B12. A worrying precedent might also be established whereby the MHRA’s ability to review products on a case-by-case basis is seriously threatened.”
The MHRA has consistently resisted challenges to its stated position on glucosamine and will be robustly defending this case. Its importance is underlined by the fact that this is the first time in 15 years that the Borderline section of the Agency has been involved in a Judicial Review (the last one relating to melatonin)
Keen says the HFMA “is on the case” and has filed a substantial submission to the Court in support of the MHRA’s position. He points out the HFMA is the only trade association actively standing up to the threat, not just for its members but for the whole industry as a whole.
“This is a watershed moment for our industry. We can’t afford it to be one of those occasions when we look back in five years’ time and say ‘how on earth did we allow that to happen’”
Keen told Natural Products: “This is a watershed moment for our industry. We can’t afford it to be one of those occasions when we look back in five years’ time and say ‘how on earth did we allow that to happen’. We need to fight this as an industry, and thanks to the generous support of a number of key companies both in and out of the HFMA membership, we have been able to secure a highly professional legal team to help us assemble the strongest possible case against this challenge.”
