Comfrey

On Friday July 6, 2001, The US Food and Drug Administration asked makers of dietary supplements containing the herb comfrey to withdraw their products due to the danger of liver damage and its possible role as a cancer-causing agent.

Comfrey is an herbal medicine that has been marketed to bruises, wounds, muscle aches and sprains, broken bones, and ulcers. Comfrey products are made from the leaves or other parts of the plant grown above the ground. They can also be made from the roots, but root preparations are more likely to cause poisoning. Comfrey contains allantoin, rosmarinic acid, and pyrrolizidine-type alkaloids.

Some think that comfrey is a beneficial herb, but scientific studies show that this herb can be very toxic. If you drink comfrey preparations or take it internally in other forms you run the risk of being poisoned. The FDA stated that "In addition to being toxic to the liver, there is also evidence that implicates these substances as carcinogens." Some people have even died from eating or drinking comfrey remedies.

In a letter to industry groups representing herbal product makers, the FDA said it was aware of dietary supplements derived from three types of comfrey that contain toxic alkaloids. ``The agency strongly recommends that firms marketing a product containing comfrey, or another source of pyrrolizidine alkaloids, remove the product from the market and alert its customers to immediately stop using the product,'' FDA said.

The following companies have products that my contain comfrey:

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