After a recall in New York State of about 30 ginseng products containing alcohol, Columbus-area General Nutrition Centers are being asked to voluntarily pull a similar product from their shelves.
Ginseng , a root, is used as an herbal body tonic. In its liquid form, alcohol is sometimes used to extract and preserve ginsenosides, the active ingredient.
The recall by New York's Agriculture and Markets Department last week follows a confiscation of small vials of the liquid from students at a high school in central New York where teachers noticed students using a ginseng product to get high.
Police Chief Stephen Hill of the village of Penn Yan, N.Y., said tests on the seized ginseng revealed 14.1 percent alcohol by volume. The students bought the product at a gas station mini-mart. Hill said he does not think liquid ginseng - usually consumed by adding a few drops to a glass of water - is regularly sold at gas stations.
"I think (the owner) just stumbled on the product," Hill said.
Greg Miller, a GNC spokesman, said only one of the products recalled in New York - Gold Panex Ginseng Extract - is sold in GNC stores. Miller said voluntary recall notices were mailed to 3,000 GNC stores, recommending the removal of Gold Panex from store shelves until product tests are conducted.
Miller said he expects word to reach the stores by the end of the week.
"We are taking this very seriously, but (Gold Panex) is not a top 10 seller," he said.
Mark Anthony, communications director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture, said his agency has not received any complaints about ginseng products.
Anna Syrkin, manager of Bexley Natural Food Co-op at 508 N. Cassady Rd., said many people use herbal medications, as doctors recommend them to their patients more and more. But, since ginseng extract is not cheap - about $6 for one ounce - she said she does not know why it would be popular among teens.
"Kids may have the idea that it isan upper and that iss why they could be drawn to it," Syrkin said. "It is not like you feel it right away. One of the biggest misconceptions is that it is a stimulant."
There are American, Chinese, Korean and Siberian ginsengs. Ginseng comes in raw, powder, liquid and tablet forms, but alcohol is only found in the liquid. Not all liquid ginsengs contain alcohol, however.
It is believed that the alcohol brings the active ingredient into the bloodstream quicker, Syrkin said.
Hsu's Ginseng Enterprises website says that ginsengs are typically used to calm nerves, adjust bodily systems, tranquilize the mind and improve memory.
Syrkin said people use ginseng for a variety of reasons from fighting colds to impotency. Joe Ferrara, director of the Division of Food Safety and Inspection in New York, said the recall was held because the products, "contained alcohol but did not declare alcohol in ingredient statement."
The labels on the ginsengs at the Bexley Natural Food Co-op indicate whether the product contains alcohol. The labels on ginseng products at GNC stores do not.
- BY: Michelle C. Fessler Dispatch Staff Reporter
- SOURCE: The Columbus Dispatch1997.07.19
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