Some supplements disappear forever!

[Guest guest]

And people said it would never happen... well it did!

What are we going to do when most of the supplements disappear forever? It

is already happening! we will not be able to chelate or treat deficiencies,

since the highest vitamin C with a prescription is going to be 180Mg that is

barely enough to keep rickets away.

The only ones that are going to make money on this LAW is the medical

community, the heart, cancer and other medical associations, the drug

companies and the undertaker.

This is the same thing that they are pushing for the US!

Elaine

 

 

 

> - http://www.healthypages.net/news.asp?newsid=1449 -

>

> In need of supplementation

> 26 April 2002, 10:43

>

> Many people think nothing of popping a 500mg tablet of vitamin C to

ward off a cold, but under new European laws many of the vitamin and mineral

supplements we take for granted - including 500mg vitamin C tablets - will

vanish from shop shelves.

>

> The European Directive on Food Supplements, which overrides current

UK legislation, was passed last month under a storm of criticism from groups

representing retailers and consumers. The directive contains a list of

vitamin and mineral sources to be evaluated by the European Union's

Scientific Committee for Food (SCF). One part of that evaluation is to

decide what strengths supplements should be restricted to.

>

> Critics of the directive fear that not only will some supplements

disappear altogether, but also that dosage limits will be dramatically

reduced - that vitamin C, for example, will come in concentrations no

greater than 180mg per tablet.

>

> David Byrne, the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection,

however, has welcomed the directive. " The aim of this legislation is to put

consumer safety and informed consumer choice first, and to solve the

problems manufacturers currently face in marketing their products due to

diverging national rules, " he said.

>

> " Thus consumers across Europe will have a wide range of safe

products available from which to choose, which is not the case in quite a

few member states today. "

>

> But the Free Choice for Supplements Alliance (FCSA), which

represents consumers and manufacturers, says the list is " very limited " and

excludes more than 300 substances currently in use in supplements. The FCSA

predicts the move will be disastrous for those involved in the manufacture,

distribution and sale of nutritional supplements in the UK, a market worth

£376 million last year.

>

> Currently, limits on the strength of vitamin and mineral supplements

vary widely across Europe. UK legislation, like that in the Netherlands and

Ireland, is liberal. It permits the sale of supplements of any strength as

long as they are within proven safety levels.

>

> But legislation elsewhere in Europe is relatively restrictive, tying

strength to recommended daily allowance (RDA), which is usually much lower

than upper safety levels. In France, individual supplements can be no

stronger than the RDA for the product, whereas Germany allows three times

the RDA.

>

> Mike Abrahams, of the National Association of Health Stores, says

the SCF is likely therefore to settle on limits for vitamin C of 60mg, 120mg

or 180mg - one, two, or three times the RDA - far short of the 500mg

supplements sold today.

>

> There's no doubt then that the directive will force a product

reshuffle in the UK, but how will this affect consumers?

>

> Sharon Flynn, a nutrition consultant for health retailers Holland &

Barrett, says, " The list is not complete. [it is] missing several key trace

elements and minerals, in particular boron, silica, vanadium and sulphur,

all of which are used quite extensively either as a single substance or in

combination. "

>

> This will have a detrimental effect on consumer choice, explains Sue

Croft, a spokeswoman for Consumers for Health Choice, an alliance of

consumers, practitioners, retailers and manufacturers. She says that, while

the aims of the directive are sound, " we will lose a great many safe

products that we have been using for more than 30 years " .

>

> Multivitamin and mineral complexes will be most affected, she says,

citing as an example the osteoporosis formulations that contain boron, which

is important to bone health. " All those will have to be reformulated, and

possibly in a way where the benefits are not as good as they are today, " she

says.

>

> To have the " missing " supplement sources put on the list,

manufacturers have to produce safety dossiers for evaluation by the SCF.

However, the research required for a dossier is extremely expensive, and

many manufacturers will be unable to afford it.

>

> The directive was recently amended to extend the18-month deadline

for submitting safety dossiers to 36 months, starting from March. But this

may be cold comfort for many manufacturers.

>

> There is also seven-year period of " derogation " from the date the

directive comes into force, during which vitamins and minerals not on the

list may still be used, but manufacturers will have to start changing their

production regimes long before that time.

>

> But it's not necessarily a tale of doom. The changes may offer

people a good opportunity to reconsider the role that vitamins play in their

diets. As David Byrne says, " A varied diet remains the best approach to

achieving good health. "

>

> By Robert Mayes

>

> Further information:

> A copy of the directive may be found at:

> www.foodstandards.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/12394.pdf

>

> Free Choice for Supplements Alliance

> www.freechoice-supplements.org

>

> © Health Media Ltd 2002

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