Interesting they mention "(such as the outbreak of severe illness caused
by a similar "natural" substance, tryptophan, once sold as a sleeping
pill). " without mentioning that the tryptophan involved in that
"outbreak" was contaminated and the problems were not due at all to the
tryptophan itself but to the contaminant toxin.
Given that, I think the likelyhood this whole article is slanted,
biased, and possibly has other important omissions or misleading
statements is high. Doesn't mean every statement therein is inaccurate,
but it sure casts doubt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan
In 1989, a large outbreak of a new, disabling, and in some cases
deadly autoimmune illness called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS)
was traced to one source of L-tryptophan. The bacterial culture used
to synthesize tryptophan by a major Japanese manufacturer, Showa Denko
KK, had been genetically modified several times to increase tryptophan
production during the 1980s.[8] Along with the higher tryptophan
concentrations in the modified culture media, the purification process
had also been streamlined to reduce costs, and a purification step
that used charcoal absorption to remove some impurities had been
omitted. The manufacturer maintained that this process modification
allowed another bacterial metabolite through the purification,
resulting in the presence of an end-product contaminant responsible
for the toxic effects. As of 1996, Showa Denko had destroyed all
modified organisms without FDA receipt of culture samples.[9][10] The
FDA was unable to publicly establish with certainty what contaminant
was the cause of the outbreak.
Most tryptophan was banned from sale in the US in 1991, and other
countries followed suit. Tryptophan from one manufacturer, of six,
continued to be sold for manufacture of baby formulas. A Rutgers Law
Journal article observed, “Political pressures have played a role in
the FDA’s decision to ban L-tryptophan as well as its desire to
increase its regulatory power over dietary supplements.”[11]
Though it is indisputable that Showa Denko KK did produce and sell a
contaminated batch of L-tryptophan, there are some concerns[12] that
the FDA's handling of this accident unfairly favored the
pharmaceutical industry, genetically modified organisms' safety
record[13] and the new antidepressant Prozac if only because of its
curiously fortuitous timing. The March 22, 1990 ban on public sale of
L-tryptophan came only four days before the media announcement of
Prozac on March 26, 1990 in Newsweek magazine[1
sol
Dee wrote:
http://wellnessletter.com/html/ds/dsMelatonin.php going back to the
melatonin posts, I found this which should be read, I think. Any
comments? Dee
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