Somsak predicts increase in sale of kratom leaves following FDA decision

Public Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said on Sunday that farmers growing kratom trees should be able to sell more kratom leaves now that the Food and Drug Administration has raised the dose of its extract in supplementary foods.

Somsak said the FDA had increased the daily use of mitragynine in supplementary diet from 0.2 milligram per day to 1mg, meaning manufacturers would need to buy more kratom leaves from farmers.

Mitragynine is an indole-based alkaloid, and the most abundant active alkaloid in the Southeast Asian plant Mitragyna speciosa, commonly known as kratom. The total alkaloid concentration in dried leaves ranges from 0.5% to 1.5%.

Somsak said the FDA’s decision to raise the safety dose of mitragynine daily use in supplements would definitely increase the market value of kratom leaves.

“Now that the FDA has set the standard of 1mg mitragynine daily use, it will open a new era for the kratom industry in the country,” Somsak said.
“I would like to congratulate farmers who grow kratom and have been waiting for this for a long time.”

He said the increased use of kratom leaf extract would allow farmers to expand their markets and earn more income by selling their kratom leaves to supplement food factories.

Somsak also recounted that last week he had answered an interpellation from a People’s Party MP from Pathum Thani province who questioned the abundant sale of boiled kratom leaf water on the streets.

Somsak said he explained to the House that the sale of boiled kratom leaf water was legal as it was not dangerous to health.
He said what was unlawful was the mixture of boiled kratom leaf water with certain banned cough syrups to make a kind of narcotics.

During his answer, Somsak said he also praised Pathum Thani as a province with quality kratom trees.