
The country's first center for quality control of dietary supplements will be created in Russia
At the VIII Eastern Economic Forum, held on September 10-13 in Vladivostok, an agreement was signed between the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies (operator of the state labeling system “Chestny znak”) and the G.B. Elyakov Pacific Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (PIBOC) on the creation of a center for quality control of biologically active food additives.
It is planned that the institute’s scientists will study counterfeit or falsified dietary supplements identified using the labeling system. The project partners will inform consumers about the results of the work. The creation of such a center will make it possible to quickly identify hazardous substances in dietary supplements and protect consumers from low-quality products, the market share of which, according to the National Research University Higher School of Economics, is more than 45 %.
According to an expert from PIBOC, you can find increasing number of dietary supplements and food products based on sea cucumber on sale, which are credited with general strengthening and tonic properties. Sea cucumber products are widely used in China, Korea and Japan.
Sea cucumbers (from the Malay tripang or trīpang) are commercial edible invertebrate marine animals of the echinoderm type, which, in addition to valuable substances, also synthesize toxic substances - triterpene glycosides, which are a means of chemical protection of these animals from marine predators.
Contact of toxic triterpene glycosides on the skin and mucous membranes of the eyes can cause local lesions, penetration into the human bloodstream, and can lead to lysis of red blood cells and suppression of immunity to infectious agents.
PIBOC is one of the country's leading institutes for the study of natural compounds. The institute's modern equipment makes it possible to identify substances and determine their concentration. This will allow us to quickly identify components of dietary supplements that are hazardous to health and promptly warn consumers about the potential danger.