This press release from the FDA about Cryptosporidium parasites in Baby’s Bliss Gripe Water reminded me of the reasons to stay away from any herbal supplement and to be skeptical of any company that touts “natural” as a reason to buy. People who have
dutifully given Baby’s Bliss Gripe Water to their infants now have the added benefit of knowing they may have given them a parasite too. If you are one of those parents who have a bottle with code 26952V and an expiration date of 10/08, return the product immediately.
Herbal Supplement Outrage
And then ask yourself why are you giving an unregulated, unnecessary herbal supplement to a child? As we previously discussed, Herbal Supplement Companies Are Not Regulated! And the FDA does not have enough resources to test every supplement product put on the market. You have no way to know whether the product is safe or not. Unlike food manufacturers, there is no law that requires independent testing of the products made and sold by herbal supplement manufacturers. It’s complete nonsense. These supplements can have real health effects and it’s only through shear luck that problems are discovered. Why is it that the FDA had to find the parasite when the company MOM Enterprises, Inc. couldn’t? Clearly something is messed up.
The Nonsense of Natural Products
I see that MOM Enterprises also sells a line of personal care products. Hopefully, they don’t rely on the ‘naturalness’ of their raw materials and they treat them to remove disease causing parasites, bacteria and viruses. These are the kinds of things that preservatives are designed to kill. Yes, preservatives protect us from the evil things found in Natural Products.
It is interesting that Baby’s Bliss has a Diaper Cream they claim to be “100% natural”. Then they show in their list of ingredients…
- Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride
- Cetearyl Olivate (and) Sorbitan Olivate
- Cetyl Alcohol
- Stearic Acid
- Glycine
- Zinc Oxide
- Dimethicone
- Fragrance
Where in nature can you find Dimethicone? I know it’s derived from sand but you have to go through a lot of chemical processing to make Dimethicone.
This product isn’t 100% Natural. It’s processed. And that’s a good thing. Processed products are safer products!
Beauty Brains bottom line
When you don’t process and chemically alter natural things you end up with PARASITES or bacteria or other disease causing microbes. That’s not something you want.
And if you are in the United States and you’re giving herbal supplements to your children, you’re taking a huge risk! The products are unregulated and in this Beauty Brain’s opinion, unsafe for children.
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TailFeather Says:
I’ve always found the categories of “natural” and “unnatural” to be mutually exclusive. They’re jusy buzzwords to keep people from buying or to get them to buy.
To me, for an ingredient to be unnatural it would have to be harvested off-world. You know, like Mars or some passing asteroid.:p Because every ingredient anywhere, in anything is somehow derived from this Earth.
Certain ingredients may not be so good for a person, but still I feel they are naturally derived(and processed). And not wanting to use preservatives is crazy. Our ancestors cured everything with salt. They did that so they didn’t get sick, and parasites.
Lauri Says:
I agree with the above comment. People will argue about whether a product is natural or not based on their feelings regarding it’s alternatives. There are those who feel dimethicone is a natural product compared with mineral oil-based or petroleum jelly-based diaper ointments. While I do agree with some herbal supplements — don’t knock ginger for nausea, it really works; unless prescribed, giving anything beyond breast milk/formula to a 6 week old infant is deplorable.
I am always amazed at the Whole Foods Crowd, following a line without doing their own research.
LuckyGirl Says:
((((BeautyBrains)))) I just had to give you a quick hug. Remember back when some sham artist said that women who wore cosmetics on average absorbs about 5 lbs. of chemicals per year? I panicked. I gathered every Dove Pro-Age product I had (and it was a lot!) and threw them in an empty dresser drawer. I wasn’t sure if I was going to throw them away or give them away but I went to the natural foods/products store and racked up on natural soaps, shower gels. etc. I felt so stupid when Beauty Brains exposed this guy. But hey, at least I was able to use my Dove Pro-Age again! So now that I’ve embarrassed my self to the utmost…..
Fuzz Says:
I love the above comment from Tailfeather. As an ingredient supplier to the cosmetic industry, I can assure you - none of our ingredients are “supernatural!”
Beyond that our products are “processed” to assure functionality, effectiveness and safety. Mother Nature is very good at making trees - not so good at making shampoos.
Miri Hacohen Says:
Research is important. And true said that “natural” does not mean Better anymore. As moms, we want the best for our children and we have to use sensible treatments. I oppose to antibiotic in general, but when you have to - you give it, because you use your sense.
I looked hard for safe products for me and my family and found an American manufacturer - Neways International with SAFE products:
http://www.ineways.com/livingood
I’ve been using them for 8 years now, and I was never disappointed. Those are natural products made safe.