Chinese residents are getting richer and richer. With the abundance of substances, more and more Chinese people began to choose Australian health products known as green, healthy and natural. As a result, the health care industry in Australia has shown "explosive growth".
According to statistics, the current size of the Australian health products industry reached 4.7 billion Australian dollars, a large number of well-known Australian vitamin brands such as: Swisse,Blackmores,Vitaco in the Chinese market has become a hot online celebrity products. However, Australia has a lot of controversy about these "going abroad" hot health products.
According to the Sun Herald, although the development of information technology is expected to bring health and vitality to people, the famed Australian health food industry is littered with scandals and faces multiple charges, including insider trading. Defaulting on workers` wages and exaggerating propaganda in food labels.
News Corp (News Corp) conducted a survey of Australia`s two major health-care products companies, Vitaco and Swisse. The two largest Australian vitamin brands are now owned by Chinese companies. According to the data, after Shanghai Pharmaceuticals and Chunhua Capital jointly acquired Vitaco in August 2016, Heishengyuan bought 83 percent of Swisse for one billion three hundred and eighty five million nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine.
However, a subsidiary of Vitaco`s parent company, Shanghai Pharmaceuticals, was shut down in 2007 for producing contaminated leukemia drugs that caused leg pain and partial paralysis in 200 patients. It is understood that the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) is currently investigating the Shanghai Pharmaceutical purchase of Vitaco related personnel. The reason is that the acquisition is suspected of insider trading.
News Corp`s survey also found that the so-called Australian health products are not really "from Australia." It is understood that the raw materials used in the production of Australian health products, vitamin C and glucosamine are almost all produced in China, including the well-known health care products Swisse and (Blackmores). In addition, Vitaco imports amino acids, sweeteners, acids and herbs from China, and Sanofi (Sanofi), the pharmaceutical group, imports some of the ingredients from China.
The company has publicly acknowledged that the global food and nutritional supplements industry is heavily dependent on China because Australia does not grow or produce major ingredients in other health products.
In addition, a number of vitamin companies have been found to deduct employees` wages. In 2015, the Australian Fair work Commission (Fair Work Commission) found that nutrition supplement company Nature`s Care and its subsidiary, Natralab Australia Pty Ltd, had a total of A $98,499 in wages for backpackers.
In addition, health experts say there is a widespread problem in Australia`s health-care industry that labels do not match actual ingredients and that health-care promotion is not scientifically proven.
For example, testing conducted by Sharp and Howells, an Australian chemical testing agency, found that while most Australian vitamin brands do contain products that are labeled, the actual levels are far lower than those mentioned in the labels.
Ken Harvey, an expert in preventive medicine at Monash University, says many health-care companies do not have scientific evidence to support the effectiveness they promote. Although these companies will also be subject to regulatory investigation, but there is a lack of corresponding penalties.
