(Copy of letter to a well known Supplement provider)
As a Kinesiologist, based in Mairangi Bay on the North Shore of Auckland, I feel I must express my concern about one of the ingredients (an artificial sweetener) in your Chewable Vitamin C 1000mg.
Because I was to be in a situation involving many people last weekend I decided I would take a booster of Vitamin C to guard against any cold infections. I had no symptoms of any cold but decided, as it had been some time since taking Vitamin C, that this may be a sensible idea.
A client had visited on Thursday of last week and had brought along a container of aforementioned Vitamin C. It was not a product I had used before but, due to its ease of being taken (chewable), I looked at the ingredients list and thought, “Great, this is for me”, and promptly rang your suppliers and ordered it…
I picked up the Vitamin C on Friday morning and ate a couple of tablets before heading out to the event.
It surprised me that, by the time I was sitting in the briefing at 2.30pm, I felt my nose stuffing up and, when I blew it, I found I was suffering from a bleeding right nostril.
During the day/evening my nose became more and more stuffed up and by the end of the evening I was unable to breathe properly through it.
When I arrived home I sniffed up salted water and this alleviated the symptoms enough for me to get to sleep. However, by the morning, I was ‘stuffed up’ badly.
In order to breathe more easily I acquired an Otrivin nasal spray on Saturday morning and used it with great relief so I could comfortably treat two clients before heading out again for another long day working at the event.
I became convinced, at this stage, that I was indeed developing a cold and so took three more tablets during Saturday – a total of 3000mg.
By the time I finished my shift at 10.45pm I was finding it was impossible to clear my nose by blowing it and had to resort to using tissues to pull out the gunk that had accumulated… an unpleasant experience.
Apart from this problem I had no other ‘cold-like’ symptoms.
When I was still suffering on Sunday morning and my nasal passages, particularly the right one, were red and raw I decided that something else had to be going on.
On re checking the container I read, under the ‘Free from‘ area that this product contains Saccharin sodium.
As I have been confidently testing and using this company’s products for my own, and clients’, needs for many years it had never occurred to me that your company would be using an additive such as this in any product and had trusted the company name that they would not subscribe to the Aspartame / sugar free belief.
I spoke to your Naturopath, at the company supply store on Monday (5 September), who told me there have been queries before about this sugar-free additive being in the product, but no reported symptoms such as mine.
Since stopping eating the Vitamin C tablets the membranes in my nose have started to repair and I can now breathe more freely and it is now 3 days since I took my last tablet. My right nostril is still red and raw but I can at least now put a bit of pressure on the side of my nose without too much pain.
In order to get a second opinion I had a doctor look at my nostrils yesterday and he described the nasal mucosa as being “inflamed, with scabs”.
I have to wonder how many people taking these tablets are suffering from similar symptoms, thinking they are doing the right thing by taking them but who are, in fact, exacerbating their symptoms.
During the past 3 months I have been running a promotion where I have been testing people for food intolerances and demonstrating the negative effects, and my concerns, with the very sort of artificial sweetener that is being used in this product.
What a clear demonstration of the negative effects of Saccharin this personal experience this has been for me, and a valuable confirmation to keep voicing my concerns about the use of artificial sweeteners.
Yours sincerely,
Judith Paterson
