FDA Flipping Out Because You Give Your Baby Herbal Supplements

Shame on you mommies for have the gall to give your baby herbal tea to ease upset stomachs and crying episodes. The FDA says that although one in ten infants receive herbal remedies, the ingredients have yet to be regulated and that means that you have no idea what you’re doing as a parent. Some herbal remedies may have metals or  undisclosed contaminants that can be detrimental to infants, the FDA says. No one tell the FDA that breast milk has yet to be approved either.

A lot of these mothers quick to use herbal teas and supplements were avid users themselves, and heard about using such remedies for their children from relatives or friends. This observation seems pretty standard in many a childrearing household, as grandmothers and aunts, in-laws, and sisters come to share their solutions to teething fits so that you can stop smacking your head against the wall.

As much as the FDA does seem to have the safety of small babies in mind when commenting on this study, this smells like a larger tactic to undermine parent’s non-commercially sanctioned efforts to soothe babies. I’m sure the minute that these remedies are considered safe, Tylenol will launch a homeopathic line of teething tablets and cranky stomach ailments, chock full of extraneous materials that you probably wouldn’t find in say your great aunt’s remedy. In the mean time, the FDA would like you to toss things like fresh chamomile, mint, or flax seed oil so that they can approve something with probably half the strength and twice the price in a little plastic bottle. One tenth of babies does represent a large loss in profits, don’t you think?