Health Canada is finally making (baby) steps toward better informing the public when it comes to homeopathy.
As readers of the blog should know by now, homeopathy is based on really silly, counterfactual beliefs that, if true, would lead to a complete rewrite of biology and chemistry textbooks.
Despite this, Health Canada routinely approves homeopathic remedies for sale in Canada.
On July 31, 2015, it introduced “label changes” for certain homeopathic preparations.
Labels on nosodes, which are homeopathic preparations of heavily diluted infectious pus and spit sold as natural alternatives to vaccines, will have to mention this: “This product is neither a vaccine nor an alternative to vaccination. This product has not been proven to prevent infection. Health Canada does not recommend its use in children and advises that your child receive all routine vaccinations.” The change is effective January 1, 2016.
Secondly, “Health Canada is no longer allowing companies to make specific health claims on homeopathic products for cough, cold, and flu for children 12 and under, unless those claims are supported by scientific evidence.” This simply means that these products, like most natural health products, will have to resort to vague claims such as “helps with” and “can be used as part of”.
While this is a step in the right direction, I feel the need to point out that these useless preparations will still carry a Health Canada product number and will continue to be sold in Canada.
Health Canada does not recommend the use of nosodes in children but continues to allow for their sale. Just like cigarettes.
