Taking Vitamin Pills and Mad Cow Disease

Introduction.

Whilst I love conspiracy theories on the internet, they’re such good gossip when having a drink with friends, the one I’ve just read trying to make a link between taking vitamin pills and mad cow disease on the internet - is really quite hilarious. The article was from a blog written by someone trying desperately to sell their own ‘non’ pill form of taking vitamin supplements, which rather than explaining the product they were selling, instead chose to pretty well attack the whole vitamin and health supplements industry!

Vitamin pill binders and coating.

This woman might have mad cow disease - or just be a mad cow?

The article reached a veritable fever pitch over the use of a chemical known as DCP, which was commonly used in pills as a binder. The problem with DCP is that it is incontrovertibly linked to the outbreaks of what were referred to as mad cow disease, in Europe, particularly the UK, in the 1980s and early 1990s. To give its correct name Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE), symptoms were observed in people after eating cattle meat products of diseased animals. The fact that DCP was one of the chemicals used as a pill binding agent - caused some sections of the media and companies with vested interests to go into over-drive, indiscriminately condemning of all cattle meat products, even if not originating in the UK or Europe. The article mentioned above seems to have taken this information and built a  conspiracy theory around it, a good 10 years after the TSE problem had been fully addressed in Europe, that any pills, especially vitamin pills, from Europe were in effect really ‘mad cow disease’ in a pill.

Is DCP a problem in pills?

The answer to that question has to be an emphatic no, if asked the question 15 or 20 years ago, related to a pill from Europe you would have had to advise caution. As it is today, you cannot say there is no threat from anything in life, but I for one will continue to take vitamin pills sourced from the USA or Europe, without any concern or worry at all. Mainly because the DCP was only ever one of the substances used as a pill binder and pill binding now uses either direct compression, wet granulation, dry granulation of fluidized bed granulation. Also, just a thought to consider, if DCP is a problem with vitamin pills - what about hypertension pills or cholesterol pills or anti-cancer pills etc? The list could of course go on - so, does the author of that article think all of the pharmaceutical companies are in league to try and cause a world wide TSE epidemic!

People in glass houses!

Finally, what really bother me, and I hope anyone who reads the article that makes these outrageous claims, is that there is nothing in the article to state the standards applied to the manufacture of the vitamin drink they’re promoting. Basically a lemon drink - but what’s the manufacturing process? Where are the lemons from - Florida, or a farm next to a power station belching out smoke and pollution in China? What additives are in the drink etc? So, rather than going off on a rant, how about telling us what’s so good about your product?