Recently Medsafe has become aware that some of the bariatric multivitamins available in New Zealand do not comply with the historical regulations from 1981 and 1985. This means that some of the widely used bariatric specific multivitamins are not currently available for purchase in New Zealand pending Medsafe’s investigation. Please note that this does not mean the multivitamins are unsafe, rather the doses of contained nutrients may exceed the amounts allowed for general sale as people who have had bariatric surgery need higher doses of some nutrients compared to the general population. We hope that this situation will be able to be remedied quickly but in the meantime we have the following suggestions:
- Please do not take the prescription multivitamin ‘Mvite’, this does not contain all the nutrients required after bariatric surgery
- You may be able to import your multivitamin from an overseas supplier or website such (e,g, www.bnhealthy.co.nz which is redirecting to Australia), this is completely legal to do
- Consider Centrum Women’s multivitamin (not the Centrum 50+ range) which is widely available in New Zealand
- If you are unable to take your regular multivitamin and would normally be having your bloods checked annually, consider increasing this to every 6 months
- Please contact your bariatric surgeon or dietitian if you have any concerns
- For further information please see this document from Dietitians NZ and ANZMOSS