Don’t believe these ‘cancer cures’

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Saturday warned the public against buying unregistered health products and herbal and food supplements that promise to cure cancer.

The FDA particularly warned against three food supplements—Aro Baro Churo Organic Tea, Aro Guyabano Tea and Aro Baro Churo Guyabano capsules —that are being advertised as being more effective than chemotherapy when it came to curing cancer.

“The said products have fraudulently and deceptively been labeled as 10,000 times stronger than chemotherapy and that they contain adriamycin that can kill cancer cells,” the FDA said in an advisory.

“Upon verification, FDA records showed that these products were neither registered as herbal drugs nor as food supplements,” it said.

The FDA said consumers should not buy food supplements and herbal

preparations that are not approved by the agency, or any products that “claim to cure, treat or mitigate any form of cancer.”

“These products are not only ineffective and expensive, but they may cause adverse reactions and events, some of which may be life threatening,” the FDA said.

It said all FDA regional field offices had been ordered to monitor and

conduct spot checks for these products in the market.

“All unregistered products found in outlets or in the possession of vendors shall be seized immediately and reports shall submitted to the FDA legal support service center for appropriate action,” the FDA said.

Philip C. Tubeza