Saturday, May 17, 2008

New Zealand Manuka Honey Group Discounts Cancer Claims

AMHA Moves to Distance Itself from Cancer Claims
Active Manuka Honey Association, 5/16/2008

The Active Manuka Honey Association (AMHA) has acted swiftly to distance itself from promotional material released by former member Manuka Health New Zealand Limited which is written in such a way that consumers could be led to believe that the company's MGO-branded Manuka Honey could cure cancer.

AMHA Brand Manager, John Rawcliffe, said Manuka Health had been disseminating promotional materials offshore which said that Indian cancer researchers had found that methylglyoxal (a compound found in manuka honey) in large doses has the potential to act specifically against the body and has a significant curative effect on a wide range of cancers in animals.

"Overseas markets have picked up on the claims and are challenging the validity and seeking recourse," Mr Rawcliffe said.

"AMHA has been forced to respond and inform the public and authorities that it is distancing itself from the company Manuka Health and its directors and senior staff. We will also be taking all legal action required to address the situation.

"Linking cancer research to promote sales of honey is not only damaging to the UMFR brand it is also misleading and raises false hope amongst those people with cancer. AMHA could never stand by such a tenuous association which questionably appears to be motivated by making profits.

"Manuka Health has also linked cancer claims to German research using the company's propolis product. This is in breach of New Zealand 's MedSafe/Government regulations, as they are not supported by sufficient clinical trials to allow such claims to be made in relation to consumable products…

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