Q: How to know the active ingredients of health foods or healthy foods? A: Modern people are paying more and more attention to nursing care. The Ministry of Health and Welfare has certified hundreds of healthy foods by commercially available health foods, but how to determine the content of the active ingredients? The pharmacist said "sometimes it's difficult."
For example, the Ω-3 oleic acid structure of fish oil can be divided into triglyceride-bearing type (TG Form) and esterified type (EE) Form), there will be very different prices due to different processing procedures, but commercially available health foods or health foods may not be clearly marked. For example, vitamin D3 and E3 are divided into natural or synthetic, and the absorption rates of the two are not the same, but they may not be clearly revealed in packaging. Another example is that the weight of the health capsules of different brands may be the same, but the heads of the capsules may be all effective health ingredients, or they may be only half of them. This dilemma is subject to the investigation of the cause of the competent Food and Drug Administration.
Under the current circumstances, there are three basic principles for people to buy health foods or health foods. First, you should consider your needs first, or consult the doctor or pharmacist's opinions; second, you can choose to buy at a trusted pharmacy, and the pharmacy will select a commercially-owned manufacturer to reduce the restrictions; third, regarding the label, you should look at whether the product label is complete, whether it includes the product name, content, ingredient list, shelf life, the manufacturer's contact address and other contacts, etc., and whether a complete after-sales consultation service is provided.
In addition, health foods are different from healthy foods. Healthy foods have been approved by the Ministry of Welfare and have practical scientific certificates to show health care effects. When people in need buy, they can verify the words "healthy food" on the packaging and the small green stamp.
Consulting Expert/Shen Caixi, Executive Director of the General Association of Pharmacists Association of China