Watchdog Group Calls On FDA To Ban Sale Of Ginkgo Supplements

The nonprofit organization Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban the use of herbal ingredient Ginkgo biloba in foods and dietary supplements. Earlier in March 2013, the National Toxicology Program found "clear evidence" that Ginkgo caused liver cancer in mice and "some evidence" it caused thyroid cancer in rats. After giving the concerned industry a reasonable time to remove Ginkgo from their products, the FDA should confiscate whatever products are still being sold, the watchdog group said. Ginkgo is found in supplement pills sold by food supplement companies, including Natrol, GNC, and Solaray, with beverage maker Stewart Brothers, Inc., already informed by the FDA that Ginkgo is not recognized as safe in food.