Health Canada pulled a Richmond manufacturing company's licence after drugs it put into capsules and blister packs were seized at sex shops in Burnaby, Richmond and Vancouver in 2021, according to information presented in court.
Gordon Chen, vice president at NuEra Nutraceutical Inc., testified in Richmond provincial court Wednesday about services his company provided for another business, MFH Enterprises Inc., in 2020.
MFH, which owns multiple adult stores in the Lower Mainland, is on trial for allegedly selling two products labelled as herbal sexual enhancements that actually contained large quantities of the prescription erectile dysfunction drugs tadalafil (sold under the brand name Cialis) and sildenafil (sold as Viagra).
One of the products, Harmony, was obtained by a Health Canada inspector posing as a customer at the Love in Love shop at 4554 Kingsway in Burnaby in December 2020.
MFH has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Chen, whose company provides contract manufacturing and packaging services, said NuEra filled three orders for MFH, in 2016, 2018 and 2020, producing nearly 100,000 Harmony capsules from powder supplied by MFH.
Chen said the only person he ever dealt with from MFH was Andy Zhang, the company's sole director, according to a corporate record search.
Chen said Zhang delivered pre-blended powder to NuEra in plastic bags inside cardboard boxes.
Usually such boxes are marked with multiple identifiers, such as lot numbers, batch numbers, a description of the material and the ingredients, according to Chen.
"Most of time, it's lacking from Mr. Zhang, so the packaging has no identifier," Chen said.
Because Zhang didn't have a certificate of analysis for the powder, Chen said NuEra required him to provide a signed statement of composition, listing the ingredients.
Zhang supplied the document, listing six herbal botanicals and their percentages, according to Chen.
He also signed a waiver of responsibility, Chen said.
In December 2020, NuEra encapsulated 27 kilograms of powder supplied by Zhang, producing 58,300 capsules in blister packs for MFH.
That same month, capsules of Harmony obtained by a Health Canada inspector at Love in Love turned out to contain large quantities of tadalafil, sparking an investigation.
Chen said Health Canada suspended NuEra's licence in April 2021 for adulterating Harmony with tadalafil, but he said the company never added the prescription drug to the product.
Chen testified that Zhang had originally told him the powder was his "own blend."
Once the Health Canada investigation started, however, Chen said Zhang had changed his tune.
He said Zhang told him he had obtained the powder from Gary Zhang (no relation), a former customer who had also had capsules made at NuEra between 2009 and 2017.
Under cross examination, Chen said he had been concerned about the possibility of the powder coming from Gary Zhang because Gary Zhang had also produced a sexual enhancement product investigated by Health Canada.
The outcome of that investigation, however, was "inconclusive," according to Chen.
Chen acknowledged NuEra was "not so strict" about how it did things before the Health Canada investigation.
"Customer supplies the material; customer supplies the packaging material. We thought it’s their responsibility to ensure everything is in compliance," he said.
Since the suspension and a Health Canada review, however, Chen said NuEra has changed its standard operating procedures and no longer accepts blended powders if the intended purpose of the product is for sexual performance or a sleeping aid because such products "have higher chance of being adulterated."
NuEra's licence was reinstated at the end of June 2021.
The eight-day trial is scheduled to continue through Friday and then resume Oct. 17 to 20.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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