Healthy Tea and Senna

　In recent years, due to the growing health consciousness, the number of people who are interested in dieting and those who have a high desire for slimming has increased. However, dieting due to excessive dietary restrictions and exercise is often difficult and does not seem to last long. The mail-order sales of women's magazines and the health food department are full of health foods that aim to be easily thinned without overdoing it.

Products sold in the form of tea bags such as "healthy tea" and "reduced tea" are noticeable. In addition, there are many products sold in the form of capsules and tablets. However, it is wrong to expect a dramatic effect on non-pharmaceutical foods, and it has been pointed out that "drinking alone loses weight" is an hype. In order to achieve this effect, some of these health teas have been added with drugs such as Senna, a laxative and Fenfluramin, an appetite suppressor, which are regarded as unapproved drugs and are subject to violation of the Pharmaceuticals Law (Fig. 1).

　"Senna", which is treated as a medicine, refers to the small leaves of a plant called Chinnebelisenna or Alexandriasenna, and the stem is treated as food. If the tea contains only the stems of Senna, there is no problem with the medicinal method. However, when you look at the contents of the tea bag while displaying "Senna stem tea", there are many cases where "Senna (Senna leaves)" is contained. In addition, the contents of the tea bag labeled "Fuyu Aoi tea" from Korea purchased via the Internet are also available.

Everything was "Senna". In this case, it is a violation of the Pharmaceutical Machinery Law.
　The test of "Senna" in a health tea first checks whether sennoside (a component of senna) is contained, and if so, analyzes the amount of sennoside with a device called a liquid chromatograph. At the same time, check with a microscope to see if there are senna leaves. "Senna" is characteristic, and hair like a stab grows only on the back of the leaves (Fig. 2). In the past, I was able to easily find "Senna", but recently, the number of things that are put in tea with clever techniques so that "Senna" cannot be confirmed has increased.
　In July 2002, many health hazards and complaints from health foods increased in the Medical Care Bureau Medical Safety Division and Health and Welfare Center.
　There is no point in harming health with health foods. That said, "Nice Buddy" is an eternal theme. We inspect such health foods for malicious diet every day, thinking that they will not completely disappear.

Create: 2002