Are pharmaceutical companies deliberately hiding the benefits of citric acid in order to sell cancer therapy drugs? No, that's not true: Citric acid remains an essential ingredient in drugs sold by many pharmaceutical companies.
The claim initially appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) which was published by @sakurasaku116 on April 27, 2023. The video opens with a brief explanation of the claim (as translated by Lead Stories staff):
"Citric acid can effectively transform acids in the body into alkaline. The reason it is not more widely used is that the medical industry won't make as much money if it is."
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon May 15 15:04:48 2023 UTC)
The claim promotes a medical myth that alkaline in the body reduces acid in the body--which causes cancer. Lead Stories has previously debunked the claim. This claim suggests that drug companies don't want to promote citric acid products in order to sell other drugs to treat diseases such as cancer.
The medical industry is not hiding the benefits of citric acid so it might profit from other drugs used to treat cancer symptoms. For example, pharmaceutical company Daiichi-Sankyo use fentanyl citrate, the citric acid salt of fentanyl, in its cancer pain relief medication. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company also manufactures sodium ferrous citrate iron pills to treat iron deficiency, where citric acid also plays a critical role in iron absorption. Citric acid is also continually used and widely advertised in many over-the-counter products, such as citric acid tablets from Matsumoto Kiyoshi, one of the largest commercial pharmacies in Japan.
The video also claims that Mexican doctor Alberto Halabe Bucay has had success treating terminal cancer patients with nothing but citric acid intake. Although Dr. Bucay has studied the benefits of citric acid in cancer treatment, his peer-reviewed journals simply state that citric acid improves the effectiveness of cancer treatment. In addition, Dr. Bucay's research does not state that citric acid cures cancer, but rather may assist in its remission.
