Shocked At Boots Pharmacy" Today

[PattayaBunLover]

I was in my local branch of Boots "Pharmacy" today and noticed that in amongst the vitamin and mineral supplements section were bottles of SHARK CARTILAGE capsules

It's obscene enough that we have to put up with Shark's fin soup at every Chinese restaurant in the Kingdom and many Thai places as well but to have a reputable "pharmacy" like Boots selling quack supplements like ground-up shark cartilage powder in capsule form is too much to accept. Sharks are beautiful and graceful apex predators that have been on the earth for hundreds of millions of years and are slowly being wiped-out in many of the world's oceans to supply the soup bowls of Chinese around the world and the pseudo-medicinal medicine trade.

There is no therapeutic value to taking shark supplements, and even if there were, it would not justify the taking of them from the oceans. I urge anyone who cares about the environment, our seas, and corporate social responsibility to call, email, or write to Boots in both Thailand and the UK (and to post this information on other websites and forums) to alert others to this outrage and shame Boots Thailand into removing this product from their shelves!

I am sure Boots would NEVER dare to sell such quack remedies in Europe or America (probably illegal anyway) and they should not do so in Asia as well (despite whatever the cultural meme may be over here).

[skipvice]

Gee if that shocked you, just you waite untill you see.......

nope changed my mind

[samuibeachcomber]

I dont know is the OP serious?

[PattayaBunLover]

I dont know is the OP serious?

Boots Pharmacy Pattaya, The Avenue branch

[Soutpeel]

I dont know is the OP serious?

I think so...... .....The OP may also may be shocked to know, that that a lot of cosmetics sold in Boots in the UK and Thailand contain placenta, and they sell Cod liver Oil....!!!!...oh no.....the poor cods....stuff the sharks, they dont make good fish and chips...

Think the OP has far too much time on their hands...

[Bucko]

I dont know is the OP serious?

I think so...... .....The OP may also may be shocked to know, that that a lot of cosmetics sold in Boots in the UK and Thailand contain placenta, and they sell Cod liver Oil....!!!!...oh no.....the poor cods....stuff the sharks, they dont make good fish and chips...

Think the OP has far too much time on their hands...

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Mmmmm---Rock Salmon---Lemon fish etc = Shark----very nice with my chips and Jumbo gherkin

[jackr]

Think the OP has far too much time on their hands...

That and a case of hysteria by the looks.

[patklang]

If correct i find this disgusting,especialy from company like Boots.I certainly will complain about this as we have no right to kill sharks for a quack remedy,but i suspect they are buying from China.

[soundman]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

[Jingthing]

Shark Cartilage Capsules

What are they good for?

Excuse me, I am hungry now, time to go out for some Dolphin casserole.

Consuming sharks? Well some of them eat us, seems fair to eat them back ...

Now squid, that's another matter. Poor defenseless squid. They wouldn't harm a fly. Life is so unfair!

[Soutpeel]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

[easyride]

Blimey, just pop into the street and see the homo sapiens being killed by petrol fumes from the baht busses. As a previous poster said "life's unfair"

[ukrules]

It's amusing when people decide which animals they will eat based on some seemingly random criteria like the cuteness of whichever critter is going in the oven.

So it's ok to eat cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, etc, etc but if anyone tries to eat a Hippo you have all sorts of loonies coming out of the woodwork.

[samuibeachcomber]

last time i read up on shark cartilige it was successfully being used to help some cancer patients and it was working and the cancer went away but i am not sure what type of cancer was being treated..............just my opinion,but what ever works use it.

[Soutpeel]

It's amusing when people decide which animals they will eat based on some seemingly random criteria like the cuteness of whichever critter is going in the oven.

So it's ok to eat cows, chickens, pigs, ducks, etc, etc but if anyone tries to eat a Hippo you have all sorts of loonies coming out of the woodwork.

Giraffe is good, elephant a bit tough...various forms of "Bambi" very good, the occassional Bugs bunny.. . ....Aloy mak mak...

[PattayaBunLover]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

The problems are many!

First, as a purely practical matter, shark populations are being depleted in many of the oceans of the world. For this environmental reason alone, sharks should not be caught for human food or medicinal consumption. There are likely to be unforeseen consequences on the oceanic food chain when the numbers of an apex predator like sharks are removed from the environment.

In addition, being a non-farmed fish species, it would be very easy for shark populations to be essentially eliminated (go extinct) from human over-fishing. On moral grounds alone, I believe most people would be against the fishing and consumption of shark for this reason as well.

Finally, the method of fishing for sharks is cruel in the extreme. Most of the demand for sharks is for their fins only (the market for shark meat itself, internal organs, or the skin is very small by comparison). Therefore, most sharks are "finned (fins cut off)" on board the boat while still alive and then tossed back into the ocean, to die a slow and painful death (or be attacked by other predators). This method of "hunting" would be equivalent to netting a deer and subduing it and then cutting off its legs and then just leaving it there to die; or to use a domestic example, cutting off the legs of a beef-cow and leaving it on the ground to die.

As for some mentioning cod (or fish) liver oils being sold as well, yes, there are serious environmental consequences to this as well...as the greatly diminished cod stocks in northern Europe attest to. At least conservation and sustainable fishing management plans can be and are in effect for this and other fish species. Unfortunately, this is not the case for sharks. In addition, at least the case can be made that in the case of cod, the whole fish is consumed so that at least there is little waste.

[PattayaBunLover]

If correct i find this disgusting,especialy from company like Boots.I certainly will complain about this as we have no right to kill sharks for a quack remedy,but i suspect they are buying from China.

Forgot to mention in my op that it is also Boot's branded capsules...so they obviously ordered it from some supplier and had their own labels put on the containers so someone in the corporate office is aware of this situation.

Kinda sad that so many here don't seem to see the wrong in the killing and consumption of sharks...I guess they have no problem with the Japanese hunting of whales either and that the world-wide ban on hunting them for whatever reason should be removed so that they can be hunted to extinction once and for all

[Soutpeel]

What is the difference between catching shark to eat, than catching mullet, mackerel or cod - incedently Boots sell fish oil pills as well....

The problems are many!

First, as a purely practical matter, shark populations are being depleted in many of the oceans of the world. For this environmental reason alone, sharks should not be caught for human food or medicinal consumption. There are likely to be unforeseen consequences on the oceanic food chain when the numbers of an apex predator like sharks are removed from the environment.

In addition, being a non-farmed fish species, it would be very easy for shark populations to be essentially eliminated (go extinct) from human over-fishing. On moral grounds alone, I believe most people would be against the fishing and consumption of shark for this reason as well.

Finally, the method of fishing for sharks is cruel in the extreme. Most of the demand for sharks is for their fins only (the market for shark meat itself, internal organs, or the skin is very small by comparison). Therefore, most sharks are "finned (fins cut off)" on board the boat while still alive and then tossed back into the ocean, to die a slow and painful death (or be attacked by other predators). This method of "hunting" would be equivalent to netting a deer and subduing it and then cutting off its legs and then just leaving it there to die; or to use a domestic example, cutting off the legs of a beef-cow and leaving it on the ground to die.

As for some mentioning cod (or fish) liver oils being sold as well, yes, there are serious environmental consequences to this as well...as the greatly diminished cod stocks in northern Europe attest to. At least conservation and sustainable fishing management plans can be and are in effect for this and other fish species. Unfortunately, this is not the case for sharks. In addition, at least the case can be made that in the case of cod, the whole fish is consumed so that at least there is little waste.

.......

Did watching "Jaws" as kid affect you in some way perhaps ??

[thaimate]

Is this a joke thread?ive taken cod liver oil for years now i hear that cod is becoming extinct.will i go to hel_l?

[pigh123]

I can understand his anger, im a lover of all forms of life and its just stupid if there is no benefit from the product

Watch this movie if anyone gets a chance, pretty interesting

[Soutpeel]

Is this a joke thread?ive taken cod liver oil for years now i hear that cod is becoming extinct.will i go to hel_l?

Yes... and forget all the cod and chips you have eaten.....

[Theyreallrubbish]

If that shocked you then when in the UK make sure not to wander down the supplements aisle of Tesco, Asda, Waitrose, Sainsburys or any other super market or pharmacy as they're sold in every store.

I don't agree with the hunting of sharks either, don't eat sharks fin soup, and doubt whether the cartilage supplements have any benefits at all, but seriously, is this the first time you've been allowed out of the house alone?

[britmaveric]

Good for Boots - least they stock something different.

[Heng]

Do you also close your eyes as you push your shopping cart past the seafood section at Foodland?

[hughben]

I seem to remember reading Shark numbers are at an all time low and they may become an endangered species soon.

I stopped eating Shark as a result.

Correct me if I am wrong....

[frankthetank]

I am very surprised this thread has lasted so long!!

Not really about Thailand, is it?

My local boots superstore, in the U.K., sells this product also, so it's not just a Thai thing!

[djinn]

Shark Cartilage Capsules

What are they good for?

injections of shark cartilage solution in articulations helps for healing arthrosis for more than 10 years (saw a french specialist in Paris long time ago about knee problems and it was a "new" promising method at this time)

But pills ??????

[MaiDong]

I can't believe the ignorance of a majority of the replies to this thread!

It's a FACT that shark populations are depleting in a massive way - according to studies 1 million sharks are being killed each year simply for their fins.

To all of the posters who have mocked the OP I encourage you to check your facts on google, it's easy to do.

I'm with the OP.

[bonobo]

Shark cartilage has no proven medical value.

However, the shark cartilage is a much different situation than shark fin.  With shark fin, sharks are netted in huge numbers, pulled aboard, and de-finned.  The still living shark is dropped off into the ocean to die.  By not harvesting the meat, the boats, almost exclusively Chinese-flagged boats, can fit more fins on board.  Shark finning is widely identified why most shark populations are at 10% of what they were even 50 years ago.

The cartilage used to make the pills come from sharks which have been harvested for their meat.  Much of this comes from Mexico where villagers hook and land sharks in small boats. Villagers have been doing this for hundreds of years without affecting shark populations, and if the cartilage was not used for pills, it would mostly be ground up as processing waste. 

The pills are most likely useless, but they also most likely have no significant environmental effect on shark populations.

[MaiDong]

Shark cartilage has no proven medical value.

However, the shark cartilage is a much different situation than shark fin. With shark fin, sharks are netted in huge numbers, pulled aboard, and de-finned. The still living shark is dropped off into the ocean to die. By not harvesting the meat, the boats, almost exclusively Chinese-flagged boats, can fit more fins on board. Shark finning is widely identified why most shark populations are at 10% of what they were even 50 years ago.

The cartilage used to make the pills come from sharks which have been harvested for their meat. Much of this comes from Mexico where villagers hook and land sharks in small boats. Villagers have been doing this for hundreds of years without affecting shark populations, and if the cartilage was not used for pills, it would mostly be ground up as processing waste.

The pills are most likely useless, but they also most likely have no significant environmental effect on shark populations.

I really really hope you're right, perhaps the OP could go back into Boots and find out the origin of the cartilage, even if it is Mexico as you say, surely the amount of local fishermen catching the sharks couldn't supply a huge multi-national company like Boots with enough cartilage to supply the demand of Boots...