Beware of Amazon’s products that are banned in the UK and which claim to cure cancer! The products, available from third party sources through Amazon’s UK website, include dried crocodile’s blood pills, apricot kernels and blood cleansers. These products claim to be able to ‘relieve’ cancer and ‘give cancer cells a hard time’. The 1939 Cancer Act bans adverts that claim to offer cures or treatments for the disease. It may be noted that Amazon UK was ridden in controversy earlier too when it seemed to advocate rape and domestic violence on its T-shirts.
The products were withdrawn from the website after ’The Times’ newspaper contacted the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), two weeks after Amazon was told about the listings. Orders for one of the products, Indian Madder sold by Ayur Organics and Herbs UK, were fulfilled by Amazon UK itself, meaning the items are posted from one of its own warehouses. While one product named Indian Madder claimed to be a ‘blood cleanser’, Bob’s Best Apricot Kernels, sold by Karowi, said it gives cancer cells ‘a hard time’. Wanithai dried crocodile blood supplement, sold by Sabuy My Shop, claimed to ‘relieve’ cancer.
In 2006, the Food Standards Agency warned that apricot kernels can produce cyanide and could be fatal in high doses over a short period of time. Pharmacology professor David Colquhoun, of University College London, was quoted as saying to ‘The Times’, ”The real danger is that people will believe the hucksters and take only things like these.” A spokesman for Amazon UK responded with, “I can confirm that those items are not available for sale.” He did not comment on why it had taken so long to remove the illegal products from Amazon site.
Crocodile blood sounds far-fetched, but it’s a shame to see it grouped with apricot kernels. There is little question apricot kernels are a great benefit for many different forms of cancer. A study published as recently as last month found them to be highly effective against cervical cancer, both in vitro and in vivo.
Despite this, apricot kernels remain under fire by regulatory authorities worldwide. Australia, for instance, has banned the sale of raw apricot kernels as food. Only those containing very small quantities of amygdalin can be sold for consumption. Despite the warnings of potentially fatal side effects, there is virtually no evidence to support this concern, which seems rather suspicious to those of us capable of research.