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How the 3 EU Directives
on Health Supplements Affect Us in the UK
Letter from Martin Hastead, the Naturopath @ NutriWorld
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Hundreds of popular vitamin pills will no longer be on sale by 2005 now the UK Parliament has approved a new European directive on supplements
"the Food Supplements Directive is about limiting food-forms of nutrients and keeping a narrow range of basic, synthetic, inorganic nutrients that are the domain of drugs companies selling into supermarkets via their big name brands. This is the railroading of the Food Supplements Directive that was after all originally conceived as a ‘safe harbour’ for all kinds of food supplements".(Alliance for Natural Health)
Introduction:
WE in the UK (& Holland) have enjoyed greater alternative health freedoms than are permitted in other EU countries. The safety of our alternative health supplements are currently regulated by the 1990 Food Safety Act
The declared aim of the 3 EU directives is to standardize laws concerning vitamin supplements throughout Europe. This means that we in the UK will have to conform to the much stricter regulations of some EU coutnries, rather than that they will have to relax their regulations
In so doing we in the UK will have to abide by the principles of Napoleonic law whereby everything is deemed harmful until proven otherwise
The fact that we have used these food supplements safely (many of them for centuries) counts for nothing. We have to prove they are safe so they can be entered on the 'Positive list'.
The enormity of this 'burdern of proof' (both in terms of time and money) will mean that many products will not be entered in time and will therefore be regarded as illegal substances
The 3 EU Directives are:
1. The Food Supplements Directive
This law was passed on March 12 and ratified by a Select Committee on July 3rd of this year
it will lead to the banning of some 300 popular supplements, such as boron; many types of calcium, chromium, copper, mixed tocopherols, iron, vanadium, zinc and food state vitamins
it will severely lower the upper limit of many of the most popular vitamins (up 20 times lower than currently sold in the UK)
any supplement not registered on the 'positive' list when the directive comes into effect in three years' time will be banned throughout Europe
2. The Traditional Herbal Medicine Directive
This directive, now under consideration by the EU
seeks to force herbal medicines and even substances like flower essences into regulatory procedures similar to those governing the pharmaceutical industry
if passed as it now stands, the THMD will effectively ban many herbs which have been safely used outside of Europe for many years or wipe them off the shelves because the companies who produce them will not be able to afford the costly regulatory process
The net effect would be the disappearance of many safe and proven herbals and flower essences from health shop shelves and the sharp curtailment of innovative natural substances
Animal testing has become a mandatory part of this process.
An Ammendment to the Medicines Act
The European Union is currently considering a proposal to amend the main EU laws defining a medicinal product and setting out the licensing system for such products.
This originally was designed as a simple exercise in "tidying up" the law.
the pharmaceutical industry and the regulatory agencies have used this as an opportunity to extend the definitions of a medicinal product to include all products, natural or otherwise, that have 'therapeutic benefit'
Conclusion:
Our alternative health supplements will be reduced to a minority of "harmonised" products
The low dosages will mean we have to buy more in order to supplement more in order to gain the same benefits we have now
Effectively we are being forced to turn to the pharmaceutical industry for remedies
This will futher burden our NHS in terms of prescriptions and medical care
We will have lost the freedom of choice regarding our personal health care
If you value your health freedom:
1. Join the Health Freedom Movement
2.What & where to write to your MP/MEP
3. Collect signatures
4. Download the Alliance for Natural Health flyer PDF print it and distribute it as widely as you can
Further Information
Was the FSA message against vitamins doctored?
"The mainstream media... has failed us completely, here in the UK and in the USA. Any news on the pharmaceutical industries is just too damned uncomfortable to handle; too complicated, often deliberately, too scientific for the layman. Many hacks, who should know better, have been lunched, holidayed and bamboozled into silence.” John le Carré, Spectator Magazine, December 2000
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