Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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633. To ask the Minister for Health his plans to lift the ban on the sale of amino acid L-tryptophan here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48850/13]

James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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I have been advised by both the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) that there is no legal prohibition on the sale of L-Tryptophan in Ireland either as a food or as a medicine. L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid, which can be found naturally along with a variety of other amino acids in whey protein, hydrolysed whey protein and hydrolysed casein products, which are sold freely on the European market as foods including in Ireland.

I have been informed by the IMB that no product containing L-tryptophan is currently authorised as a medicine in Ireland and that the IMB is not in receipt of any application to license any such product. Products containing L-tryptophan have been made available in Ireland by way of the exempt medicinal product scheme which allows unauthorised medicines to be supplied on foot of a prescription to a named patient.