By Paul Yamaguchi
Despite pressure from U.S. and the Japanese nutrition organizations, the Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare (MHLW) has not changed their minds and has kept the industry’s highly anticipated ingredients, taurine and glutathione under the drug category.
The MHLW announced the 4th food-drug reclassification. In this announcement, the agency reclassified 55 ingredients. (Read NPIcenter’s Japan’s Nutraceuticals Today 04-16-07 ) Among reclassified ingredients are: American ginseng, rush, barley and 51 other botanicals. In the animal category, gecko and shell fish, hyriopsis cumingii have been added. In the chemical category, only L-citruline has been changed to the food category.
If you would like to receive the 4th reclassification ingredients list, please request this by e-mail to: pya@ix.netcom.com . As soon as the list is translated in English, we’ll send it you.