Health Supreme Update: Codex 2003 - Grossklaus and Mathioudakis: Nutrition not relevant to Health

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Tuesday, November 25, 2003 1:09 PM

Health Supreme Update: Codex 2003 - Grossklaus and Mathioudakis:

Nutrition not relevant to Health

 

 

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/11/25/codex_2003_grossklaus_and_mathio\

udakis_nutrition_not_relevant_to_health.htm

http://www.newmediaexolorer.org/sepp/

 

Kind regards

Josef

_____

 

 

November 25, 2003

 

Codex 2003 - Grossklaus and Mathioudakis: Nutrition not relevant to Health

 

 

November 3-7, 2003, the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for special

dietary uses met in BONN, Germany, for their once-yearly come-together. On

the agenda for discussion were, before baby foods and the description of

healthy properties of food on labels, the proposed Codex Giudelines for

" Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements " . Such guidelines would be, once

passed, the equivalent of international law to be followed in all commerce

of vitamin and mineral supplements.

 

As I reported on 6 November, a very interesting proposal made by South

Africa was, to officially acknowledge the importance of supplements to the

prevention of degenerative diseases. What a pity that this was

unceremoniously squashed by the German Chairman of the Committee Rolf

Grossklaus and the " Observer " at Codex for the EU Commission, Basil

Mathioudakis.

 

We now have an excellent report by Paul Taylor, who attended the

discussions. Reading Paul's report, you will find out who are the people in

control of the discussion that is supposed to be shaping laws we may have to

follow in the future if we wish to continue to take nutritional supplements:

One of them is Rolf Grossklaus, Chairman of the Committee, who often decided

in a seemingly arbitrary fashion, what constituted a Committee " consensus "

and what didn't. The other major player is Basil Mathioudakis, the EU

" Observer " , representing a solid block of nations whose officials attend the

meetings but have practically lost any possibility of independent action.

 

You will also find out that for these two officials, nutrition has " nothing

to do with health " and that prevention " is the province of medicine " . Let us

stop and think for a moment: International legislation, which will deeply

affect our health choices, not to speak of the laws and health expenditures

of a multitude of countries, is being formed by an obscure Committee of

government bueraucrats, which in turn appears to be controlled or " steered "

by a very small number of individuals who think that health and nutrition

are complete strangers!

 

Considering the view that " nutrition has nothing to do with preventing

illness " , is it any wonder that health expenditures in most countries are on

the rise, while health of the population seems to be at an all-time low?

 

Another in-depth report on the meeting has been prepared by Suzan Walter,

President of the American Holistic Health Association. Suzan is very

knowledgeable about the applicability of Codex Standards and Guidelines to

international trade and, by extension, to national legislation on the

subject of health and nutritional products. Suzan's report can be found on

this page.

 

Dr. Ang Peng Wong from Malaysia has contributed his impressions of the Codex

meeting and the discussions there. Coming from South East Asia, Dr. Wong

brings us the viewpoint of the developing nations, and their specific

concerns with western global trade dominance as expressed through Codex. His

colorful description and his impressions can be found at the very end of

this article, after Paul Taylor's report.

 

You may believe, after reading the various reports, that the way things are

decided at this particular Codex Committee is not quite democratic, and you

might not be far off the truth. But let us consider WHY this might be so.

 

At the meeting, some leaflets were available, one of them about consumer

participation. I took one home as a trophy, and here is what it says. The

headline: " CONSUMERS: Are you concerned about the quality and safety of your

food? "

 

The leaflet goes on to state that consumers are playing " a vital role in

pressuring governments to adhere to Codex standards and to anticipate

emerging food safety and food quality issues. Consumers are currently

involved in issues concerning BIOTECHNOLOGY and ANIMAL FEED. "

 

Note they are not saying a thing about consumers being active in the area of

FOOD SUPPLEMENTS.

 

The leaflet also explains how to participate in Codex activities.

 

" Consumer participation is an important element in the work of the Codex

Alimentarius Commission. The Commission recommends that consumer

representatives be included on National Codex Committees, which formulate

country policy and contribute to debate at international Codex meetings. In

addition, international consumer groups participate actively in Codex work.

If you are a member of a consumer group, put the Codex Alimentarius on the

agenda of your next meeting. Your country's Codex Contact Point can tell you

more about how your group can influence food standards. "

 

Returning to the question of WHY our interests don't seem represented and

decisions are made in a quite undemocratic fashion, we might have to look

for the answer close to home. Maybe we have no one but ourselves to blame.

Let me ask you - when was the last time you inquired with your country's

health ministry about their views on high dose nutritional supplements and

asked them what stance they are taking at Codex meetings on this matter?

 

 

 

CODEX COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND FOODS FOR SPECIAL DIETARY USES

 

Twenty-fifth Session.

Bruckenforum, Bonn, Germany, 3-7 November 2003.

 

 

A report on the Codex discussions regarding the Proposed Draft Guidelines

for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements, prepared by Paul Anthony Taylor.

 

 

Monday 3rd November 2003

 

Agenda item 5. Proposed Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

 

The Chairman opened discussions on this agenda item by saying that for a

long time no progress had been made on this issue, but that people had

become aware of the need to develop these proposals. He also stated that he

intended to make a major breakthrough on this occasion, and suggested that

the discussions should include the issue of the maximum values for

nutrients.

 

Title

 

The first issue to be discussed by the Committee was that of the title of

the guidelines. (Proposed Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food

Supplements). Malaysia proposed to delete the word " food " from the title,

and South Africa supported them on this. The EC (European Commission)

Observer (Mr. Basil Mathioudakis) did not agree to this however, saying that

it was not acceptable. The general pattern of the debate began to become

apparent from this point onwards, as the Chairman stated that he did not

share the concerns of Malaysia and South Africa, and said that we could

leave the title as it is. In effect (and not for the last time in these

meetings) the Chairman was no longer acting as a moderator, but as a judge.

With regard to this point, it is notable that the text of the Draft Report

that was issued on the Friday stated the following:

 

After an exchange of views it was however agreed to retain the current

title.

 

As will be seen later, this was by no means the only instance where the

Draft Report did not reflect what had actually happened.

 

 

Preamble

 

The debate then passed quickly on to the text of the preamble. South Africa

read out their proposed alterations, which included wording to the effect

that people should " be encouraged to select a healthy diet and supplement

this diet with those nutrients for which the intake from the diet is

insufficient to meet the requirements necessary for the prevention of

chronic diseases and/or for the promotion of health beyond the demands of

preventing micronutrient deficiencies. " The National Health Federation

supported this, saying that this text merely states what we know to be true.

 

The EC Observer however said that food and the prevention of diseases do not

go together. He was supported by the Chairman in this, who said that drugs

are to mitigate and prevent diseases, and that the role of food supplements

is to support the diet.

 

CRN talked about the classic nutritional diseases, the nutrient responsive

diseases, and nutrients used as drugs, and said that this sort of

categorisation should be the way forward. The EC Observer, however, said

that health claims for vitamin and mineral supplements should be prohibited.

The Chairman pointed out that the situation in the United States was

different, and that the Codex Committee has a certain conflict regarding

this issue. Medical supervision is important in this field, he said, and we

should not talk about the prevention of diseases. The National Health

Federation refuted the Chairman's statement however.

 

Tunisia said that most people who have access to a balanced diet get

sufficient nutrients, and that people should be encouraged to aim for a

balanced diet. The Chairman then intervened in the discussion, saying that

he wanted to stick to the preamble as it is, as the Codex Committee had been

discussing this issue for years. Yet again then, rather than acting as a

moderator the Chairman was playing the role of judge, and the discussions

moved, or rather, were forced, onto the next paragraph of the Guidelines.

 

Interestingly however, the Draft Report described this intervention as

follows:

 

After some discussion, the Committee agreed to retain the current text as it

resulted from considerable discussion and consensus at the last session.

 

Once again, it would appear that the Draft Report did not accurately reflect

what had actually happened.

 

Scope

 

South Africa read out their proposed alterations to this paragraph, and said

that the sentence " It is left to national authorities to decide whether

vitamin and mineral supplements are drugs or foods " should be deleted. They

argued that this sentence creates a potential barrier to trade, and that the

Codex mandate is to remove existing barriers to trade and to harmonise

legislation globally. South Africa were supported by the USA, who said that

Codex guidelines only apply to foods and that it is not necessary to

reiterate this. After some discussion the Committee eventually agreed to

delete this sentence.

 

During the discussions on Scope, the Chairman inferred that the EU wanted to

leave the door open for the Draft Guidelines on Vitamins and Minerals to be

extended to other nutrients. The EC Observer replied by saying that they did

not want this, but that if the Scope was defined too rigidly some products

might be taken out of the Guidelines by the addition of other nutrients,

thus claiming that they were not vitamin and mineral supplements. As a

result of this, the Committee added the following sentence to the

Guidelines:

 

Food Supplements containing vitamins and/or minerals as well as other

ingredients should also be in conformity with the specific rules on vitamins

and minerals laid down in these Guidelines.

 

Definitions

 

Following a short tea-break, the Chairman stated that there was consensus

that the Committee wanted to draw up guidelines, and the discussions

eventually moved on to the issue of definitions.

 

The New Zealand delegation wanted to delete the square brackets around the

following:

 

They serve to supplement the daily diet with these nutrients in cases when

the intake from food is insufficient or where the consumers consider their

diet requires supplementation.

 

The delegations of Thailand and India both supported this.

 

The EC Observer however stated that the definition is wrong, and that it was

necessary to come to a decision. He also complained that the discussion

could easily take up the rest of the allotted time.

 

The word " dose " was discussed, and the USA stated that this word can imply a

drug use rather than a food use, adding that they are unaware of what a

" significant amount of energy " means. (The term " a significant amount of

energy " was originally contained in the draft definitions, but was

eventually deleted by the Committee).

 

Malaysia wanted to add wording to the effect that supplements should not be

used to replace a balanced diet, but the Chairman said that this was

mentioned in the preamble.

 

The EC Observer wanted to add the words " measured small unit quantities " to

the definition, so that vitamins and minerals could not be added to a drink

and taken in large doses. South Africa stated however that they could not

support the EU on this, and said that if this wording was to stay it should

be defined properly. Nigeria was of the opinion that " measured small unit

quantities " made the definition too long. India agreed with this, saying

that the existing definition serves the purpose. The EC Observer was not

happy with this however, and asked whether a can of Coca-Cola containing

vitamins and minerals is a food supplement. " This is what we want to avoid, "

he said. Germany said that the concept of " measured small unit quantities "

should be included in the definition. France also supported this proposal.

 

The USA said that they would be willing to consider other language, but that

the burden of the language should be on the EU, since they were the ones

proposing the language!

 

After some further discussion the Chairman eventually said that " small unit

quantities " should be put into square brackets.

 

Composition

 

The USA proposed the following:

 

The sources of vitamins and minerals may be from either natural sources or

synthetic sources...

 

IADSA and the UK both supported the USA regarding this suggestion. The EC

Observer was not happy with this however, and asked if acerola was going to

be used as a source whether it would be labelled as a source of acerola or

vitamin C. He also wanted to know what " natural or synthetic " means. CRN

were of the opinion that the source would be acerola and that the vitamin C

content would be listed in brackets. The EC Observer replied that vitamin C

can either be extracted from natural sources or it can be one of the natural

constituents, adding that the words " natural or synthetic sources " should go

in square brackets. The Chairman then told the Committee that the USA

proposal re. " natural or synthetic sources " should go into square brackets,

and the discussion moved on to the next sentence of the Guidelines.

 

The USA proposed to delete the following sentence, on the grounds that the

issue of safety was addressed in the section on Contents.

 

The use of individual vitamins and minerals in supplements can be [limited]

for reasons of health protection and consumer safety, taking into account

regional or national peculiarities concerning the supply situation of the

population.

 

This was put to the Committee by the Chairman, and as a result was removed

from the Guidelines.

 

With regard to the reference to the FAO and WHO in 3.1.2, the EC Observer

asked whether this is referring to a specific FAO/WHO document:

 

The sources of vitamins and minerals may be from either [natural or

synthetic sources] and should be based on consideration such as safety and

bioavailability. In addition, purity criteria should take into account

FAO/WHO standards, or if FAO/WHO standards are not available, international

Pharmacopoeias or recognized international standards. In the absence of

criteria from these sources national legislation may be used.

 

In his answer the Chairman invited the EU to propose a list for this section

of the Guidelines. The USA however stated that they could not see how having

a list would help. Although this was not clarified, one was left wondering

whether this was the first mention of a possible " positive list " , along the

lines of the EU Food Supplements Directive.

 

Contents

 

Japan was of the opinion that a minimum level of 15% for each vitamin and

mineral contained in a supplement is too low. The USA however said that a

logical basis for setting a percentage value should be employed, and

reminded the Committee that it was not possible to include more than 15% to

33% of the recommended daily intake of calcium and magnesium in a capsule as

it would be overly large. Malaysia supported the USA on this, as did South

Africa and the Philippines. Thailand however said that the minimum should be

at least 33%. The Chairman stated that the majority of comments wanted to

maintain the 15% minimum, adding that the issue as to what is a significant

amount still needed to be clarified to the Labelling Committee.

 

The EC Observer said that 3.2.1 contained a reference to the RDA, and that

the Committee needed to know which RDAs would be used, since the FAO/WHO

recommendations did not include all nutrients.

 

When the discussion eventually passed on to the issue of maximum levels

(3.2.2), the Chairman stated that the vast majority wanted upper limits to

be based on risk assessment.

 

Delegations in favour of scientific-based risk assessment included the EU,

South Africa, USA and Switzerland. Delegations in favour of the maximum

level of each vitamin and/or mineral contained in a supplement not being

allowed to exceed RDA levels included Norway, Malaysia and Thailand.

 

The National Health Federation said that 3.2.2 (b)

 

the daily intake of vitamins and minerals from other dietary sources.

 

should be deleted, because it was not necessary to take the daily intake of

vitamins and minerals from other dietary sources into account when setting

the maximum levels that can be contained in a supplement. The Chairman

replied by saying that this would be counter-productive.

 

The USA wanted to delete the following:

 

When the maximum levels are set, due account should be taken to the

reference intake values of vitamins and minerals for the population.

 

The EC Observer stated however that he could not support this.

 

A number of delegations however supported the USA on this, including

Tunisia, IADSA, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa and the National

Health Federation. CRN also supported this, but said that if it must be kept

then the RDA could be used as a floor so that the risk assessment could not

deliver a level below the RDA. In addition to the EC Observer, other

delegations who wanted account to be taken of the reference intake values of

vitamins and minerals when the maximum levels are set included Norway and

Italy.

 

It was eventually agreed to retain this sentence in square brackets.

 

 

Tuesday 4th November 2003

 

At the beginning of day two, the Chairman proposed that the Committee should

deal with the items in square brackets first.

 

Labelling

 

With regard to the name of the product, the EC Observer proposed the

following:

 

The name of the product shall be food supplement with an indication of the

categories of nutrients or of the individual vitamin(s) and/or mineral(s)

contained in the product as the case may be.

 

IADSA however wanted " The labelling of the product " , and were supported by

South Africa on this. The EC Observer replied that this would be

grammatically incorrect. The National Health Federation supported IADSA and

South Africa. IADSA then suggested that " The specified name of the

product... " would be better. The National Health Federation then proposed

" shall be identified as a food supplement " , and suggested the use of square

brackets. The Chairman however stated that he did not want the use of square

brackets, and accepted the proposal of the EC Observer.

 

The Draft Report however wrote this up as follows:

 

The Committee deleted the square brackets in section 5.2, agreed that the

name of the product should be " food supplements " for consistency with the

rest of the text, and reworded the sentence for clarification purposes.

 

Once again, it would appear that the Draft Report did not accurately reflect

what had actually happened.

 

With regard to 5.3, the Committee decided upon the following text:

 

The amount of the vitamins and minerals present in the product shall be

declared in the labelling in numerical form. The units to be used shall be

units of weight.

 

(Interestingly however, when the Draft Report was distributed on the Friday

the word " shall " had been replaced by the word " should " . (Errors of this

sort are somewhat commonplace in the Draft Report).

 

When the discussion passed on to 5.4, the USA suggested the following:

 

The amounts of the vitamins and minerals present in the product declared

shall be those amounts per portion of the product recommended on the

labelling for single use and if different the amounts per day.

 

The EC Observer disagreed with the USA however, saying that in the EU they

had decided that consumers would be confused by this.

 

The text displayed on the screen at the front of the meeting then became:

 

The amounts of the vitamins and minerals declared shall be those per portion

of the product as recommended for daily consumption on the labelling and if

different the amounts per single use.

 

The EC Observer was still unhappy however, and said that EU consumers would

not understand this!

 

The National Health Federation made a couple of interventions in support of

the US proposal, saying that it was safer.

 

After some discussion it was agreed to retain the square brackets in section

5.4, as the Committee were unable to agree upon whether the declaration of

vitamin or minerals should be the amount per portion of the product

recommended for daily consumption or the amount per single use.

 

When the discussion turned to 5.5, and the issue of nutrient reference

values, the Chairman suggested that an electronic working group should be

set up, and that one of the tasks of this working group should be to set new

nutrient reference values. The USA were in agreement with this proposal, and

noted the inadequacy of the current nutrient reference values, saying that

they need to be updated. The EC Observer asked whether the working group

would be setting population recommended daily intakes or population

reference values, and the Chairman confirmed that it would be the latter.

CRN meanwhile said that a guide as to what would be a reasonable amount was

necessary, and quoted 100mg of vitamin C as an example!

 

The Chairman said that the Committee should be talking about nutrient

reference values as defined in the Helsinki Consultation (1988), and that

values for different age groups should be set.

 

The National Health Federation then informed the Chairman that they would

like to take part in this electronic working group, and the Codex

Secretariat offered to send out a Circular Letter to ask for proposals for

additional or revised nutrient reference values for labelling purposes.

 

5.7 had originally read as follows:

 

The label must contain a warning statement [if the product contains a

significant amount of a nutrient with respect to the toxicity level.]

 

The USA and South Africa both wanted to delete this, and were supported by

CRN and the National Health Federation.

 

Switzerland however wanted the following:

 

Where appropriate and as determined by risk assessment the label should

advise consumers not to exceed the maximum one-day dose.

 

The EC Observer meanwhile, proposed:

 

The label must contain a warning statement not to exceed the stated

recommended daily dose [if the product contains a significant amount of a

nutrient with respect to the toxicity level.]

 

Germany, Slovenia and Denmark supported the EC Observer's proposal, and the

Chairman stated that the EC Observer's proposal was reasonable if consumers

want to do something good for their health. This then became the wording

that was displayed on the screen at the front of the hall.

 

Following a short coffee break it was announced that South Africa had spoken

to the Chairman, and had agreed to chair the electronic working group

looking into the issue of nutrient reference values.

 

Once discussion resumed on the matter of labelling, Austria said that the

warning statement should begin with:

 

" The label must... "

 

The head of the National Health Federation delegation then intervened,

complaining that the Chairman was fashioning the document according to what

the EU wants. " What the EU wants, the EU gets, " he said, adding that the

Committee did not have a consensus and so some things needed to remain in

brackets.

 

The delegation from Kenya however wanted the word " shall " , as opposed to the

word " must " . There then followed a great deal of disagreement amongst the

delegations over this point, and much discussion ensued as to whether the

guidelines were recommendations or mandatory. Eventually however, the

following was agreed:

 

The label shall contain advice to the consumer not to exceed the maximum

one-day amount.

 

The Committee then passed on to section 5.8, which had formerly read as

follows:

 

[The label must contain a statement: supplements can not be used for the

replacement of meals on long-term basis.]

 

The EC Observer wanted to replace this with the following:

 

The label must contain a statement that supplements can not be used for the

replacement of a varied diet.

 

The USA meanwhile proposed:

 

The label should not state or imply that supplements can be used for the

replacement of meals or a varied diet.

 

China however wanted to use " replacement of meals or drugs " , and New Zealand

wanted to delete this section entirely, but were prepared to support the USA

if this were not possible. After much discussion the USA proposal was

eventually accepted by the Committee.

 

When it came to section 5.9, which had originally stated that all labels

should bear a statement that the supplement should be taken on an advice of

a nutritionist, a dietician or a medical doctor, the South African

delegation said that they wanted to delete this. The Philippines and

Malaysian delegations meanwhile wanted to keep this statement. The Chairman

however stated that we are not speaking about drugs here, and it was

accordingly agreed to delete this section.

 

At this point all of the items that were originally contained in brackets

had now been dealt with, and the Committee proceeded to discuss some of the

other issues relating to these Guidelines.

 

Packaging

 

With regard to 4.3, which had stated that vitamin and mineral supplements

should be distributed in child-resistant packaging, the EC Observer proposed

to delete this, and wanted a statement to the effect that the products

should be stored out of the reach of young children, such as:

 

The label must contain a statement to the effect that the product must be

stored out of the reach of young children.

 

The Chairman commented that it is true that vitamins are often consumed by

children as if they were colourful sweets (!!), and went on to say that

child-resistant packaging is often difficult for the elderly to open.

 

Poland and Bulgaria both supported the EC Observer on their proposed

amendment. This was then agreed by the Committee, and became section 5.9,

whilst the original section 4.3 was deleted.

 

Contents of Vitamins and Minerals

 

The Committee then turned its attention to 3.2.3, and the South African

delegation stated that they would be in favour of:

 

For vitamins and minerals with a narrow safety margin between the

recommended daily intake and the adverse effect level, different maximum

limits for the daily dose may be established at the national level, if the

national authority can show scientifically that a level lower than that

established by Codex is appropriate.

 

The EC Observer however suggested taking out section 3.2.3, and this was

duly done.

 

Advancement from Step 4 to Step 5

 

The Chairman then proposed to advance the Proposed Draft Guidelines for

adoption at Step 5, and this was agreed by the Committee.

 

 

Analysis and Comment

 

One of the most interesting aspects of these Codex meetings was that the 15

EU member states generally only entered into the debate when the EC

Observer, Basil Mathioudakis, was in need of support to defend his position.

Mr Mathioudakis is now a major contributor to the Codex Committee

discussions, and he manages to exert a tremendous amount of influence both

over the drafting of the Codex Guidelines and the meetings themselves.

Interestingly, the delegate from IACFO (International Association of

Consumer Food Organisations), during the discussions that took place on the

Friday regarding the Draft Report, actually asked the Chairman for

clarification of the EU's status at Codex, given that Basil Mathioudakis had

been described as the EC 'Observer'. Following the Chairman's reply, Italy

stated that at the beginning of the week the EU countries had decided that

Mr Mathioudakis would speak for them. Upon further questioning from the

IAFCO delegate, the Chairman then stated that the EU would have full

membership status at Codex " within 24 hours " . It was also announced by the

Chairman that from this year onwards the official Codex Report will not name

individual countries who were in favour of the motions being passed, and

will instead only name those countries who were against the motions being

passed and who had asked for their opposition to be mentioned in the

official report.

 

A number of books, booklets and leaflets were left out on trestle tables

this year for the delegates to take away. Many of these had somewhat

patronising titles, such as " Understanding Codex Alimentarius " and

" Consumers: Are you concerned about the quality and safety of your food " . It

was no coincidence that this was the first year in which consumers were

allowed to attend the meetings as observers, and several people commented to

me that these publications were clearly a (somewhat clumsy) attempt by the

Codex Committee to address the negative image that it has amongst consumers.

 

One of the most obvious ways in which the Codex process could be made more

transparent would be if an official written record of everything that was

said at the meetings was made available to the public, similar to the way in

which Hansard records everything that is said in the British Parliament. The

lack of this (along with the lack of a transparent voting procedure where

real votes are cast and then made public afterwards) are major failings that

the Committee seems to be in no hurry to address.

 

Germany, incidentally, had by far the largest delegation at these meetings,

with a total of 22 members. Almost without exception the German delegation

all appeared to be keeping copious notes on everything that was said and

done. Germany also had a further 6 Secretariat representatives present at

these meetings, who were from the German Ministry for Consumers, Nutrition

and Agriculture. The United States, by way of a comparison, had a total of

10 delegates, not all of whom were present for the entire week. The UK,

meanwhile, had only one delegate (from the Food Standards Agency), who left

following the conclusion of Wednesday's discussions.

 

Finally, this report would not be complete without a few words concerning

the 'victory' that some have been proclaiming following the conclusion of

the discussions over the Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral

Supplements. Although it is of course true to say that things would have

been very much worse had the Committee agreed to recommend RDA levels only,

it by no means follows that just because scientific risk assessment will be

used we can assume that the safe upper limits will be set at reasonable

levels. Scientific risk assessment was used by the EU Scientific Committee

on Food (SCF), for example, when they were setting the tolerable upper

intake levels in connection with the EU Food Supplements Directive. As a

result of their 'scientific' risk assessment, the SCF recommended that the

tolerable upper intake level for niacin should be set at only 10mg, an

amount which is less than half of the EU RDA for vitamin B3. Similarly with

their evaluation of vitamin B6, the SCF relied strongly upon a Dalton &

Dalton study from 1987 that has been largely discredited by most

acknowledged experts in the field of nutritional science. Based upon this

study, the SCF set a tolerable upper intake level of only 25mg for vitamin

B6.

 

To make matters worse, the preamble to the EU Food Supplements Directive

states that:

 

When maximum levels are set, therefore, account should be taken of the upper

safe levels of the vitamins and minerals, as established by scientific risk

assessment based on generally acceptable scientific data, and of intakes of

those nutrients from the normal diet. Due account should also be taken of

reference intake amounts when setting maximum levels.

 

Clearly then, the text of the Food Supplements Directive strongly indicates

that when setting the maximum levels a further amount will be deducted to

account for dietary intake. Given the influence that the EU now clearly has

upon the Codex Alimentarius Committee, it is unthinkable that a similar

process will not be used when setting the upper safe levels for the

Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements. Indeed, most of the text for

this is already in place.

 

Consider the following, which now forms part of the Codex text, as agreed

this year:

 

3.2.2 Maximum amounts of vitamins and minerals in vitamin and mineral

supplements per daily portion of consumption as recommended by the

manufacturer shall be set, taking the following criteria into account:

 

upper safe levels of vitamins and minerals established by scientific risk

assessment based on generally accepted scientific data, taking into

consideration, as appropriate, the varying degrees of sensitivity of

different consumer groups;

 

the daily intake of vitamins and minerals from other dietary sources.

 

[When the maximum levels are set, due account should be taken to the

reference intake values of vitamins and minerals for the population.]

 

Bearing the above in mind, proclaiming 'victory' following the agreement of

Codex to utilise 'scientific' risk assessment in the setting of the upper

safe levels seems both premature and naive.

 

These growing similarities, and others, between the text of the EU Food

Supplements Directive and the Codex Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral

Supplements are no coincidence. Basil Mathioudakis (the EC Observer), who

drafted the text of the EU Food Supplements Directive, will now be

representing 25 EU countries at the next Codex meeting in Bonn in November

2004. Clearly the long-held fear that the EU will eventually win the vote at

Codex over the vitamin and mineral issue, through being able to outvote all

of the other countries, could soon become a reality. This therefore raises

the grim possibility that discussions regarding the Codex Draft Guidelines

for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements could even be concluded at next year's

meeting. This eventuality could have grave implications for the legal

challenge to the EU Food Supplements Directive, because if the Codex

Guidelines are agreed before the legal challenge is complete the UK lawyers

would in essence be arguing for the European Court of Justice to overturn

legislation that is fully in line with a newly agreed global standard.

 

In summary then, Codex is the trump card. Even if the legal challenge to the

Food Supplements Directive is successful the Codex proposals could still be

implemented globally, effectively overruling any short-term victory for

health freedom in Europe. Proof of this comes from recent research by the

American Holistic Health Association, which confirms that implementation of

the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements is not

optional. See Why are Codex Guidelines now Standards?

 

Clearly then, the next couple of years are going to be crucial ones for the

future of natural healthcare and freedom of choice.

 

************ END OF PAUL TAYLOR'S REPORT ***********

 

CODEX ALIMENTARIUS - HYPOCRISY! HYPOCRISY! HYPOCRISY!

 

 

BY DR WONG ANG PENG,

 

19 November 2003.

 

It is now painfully clear that hypocrisy was at the highest order during the

just concluded Codex Alimentarius meeting in Bonn, Germany, held from 3 to 7

Nov 03. Codex Alimentarius (Codex in short) is the joint food standard

setting body of UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) and Food and

Agricultural Organisation (FAO). The 25th Session of the Codex Committee on

Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses, which comprises 218 delegates

from 48 countries and international NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisation)

discussed a number of issues which included dietary fibre content,

gluten-free foods, guidelines for vitamin and mineral supplements, standard

for infant formula and young children, and health claims.

 

It was during the long discussion of the two agenda items - guidelines for

vitamin and mineral supplements, and standard for infant formula, that bore

the naked truth of hypocrisy of the countries from European Union. Driven by

the interest of their multinational corporations, particularly from the

pharmaceutical and food manufacturing industries, the EU put forward

suggestions that will eventually protect the interest of these industries.

Only the steadfast counter arguments of some public interest NGOs and a

handful of developing countries prevented the EU to trample through.

 

Item 5 on the agenda was draft guidelines for vitamin and mineral

supplements. The EU were all out to put obstacles and to curb free usages of

food supplements. They wanted food supplements to be regulated as drugs if

possible. Health claims on nutrients, even though those previously

scientifically proven, were forbidden. They wanted the people to eat a

normal diet and not to replace supplements as diets, but said nothing about

discouraging junk food and processed food.

 

The most ridiculous of all was the suggestion that the upper limit for

ingredients be set at 100% of the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance). That

would mean, taking Vitamin C as an example, the maximum allowed in a tablet

be not more that 60 mg. This amount is just barely enough to keep us alive.

60 mg of vitamin C will not keep us away from flu attacks. It is common

knowledge within the scientific community that RDA for vitamins and minerals

set a few decades ago, were not based on sound science. Fortunately this

proposal on RDA was rejected, led by strong opposition from South

Africa that suggested that upper limits of ingredients be discussed in

another forum by scientists of independent standing and without conflict of

interest. The insidious agenda of the EU was clear. They wanted to ban free

supply of vitamins and minerals. If that is not possible, impose all kinds

of obstacles for manufacturers, suppliers, and consumers. Finally to set

upper limits for nutrient ingredients to be as low as possible so that the

food supplements are useless in preventive and therapeutic effect. The

threat of food supplements industry on the mega profits of the

pharmaceutical industry must be stopped at all cost.

 

Item 6 on the agenda was the proposed draft standard for infant formula.

Even the baby boom world scenario that provided a market size of USD 17

billion a year was not enough to satisfy the global greed of the infant

formula industry. The EU delegates were again very adamant in their

proposals, only this time a different tune as compared their proposals for

vitamin and mineral supplements. The EU proposed two standards for infant

formula - one for normal healthy infants, another for different kinds of

health conditions, like for colic and regurgitation. There was a threatened

impasse at first when India, Indonesia and some public interest NGOs

insisted on having one standard only. They argued that by having two

standards mothers would be hook winked into thinking the health formula

would be better and that breastfeeding would be discouraged. A compromised

wording of the draft standards got the proceedings going, but in the end the

EU strategically got what they wanted, ie two standards for infant formula.

 

Contrary to their arguments for Item 5 where the EU delegates were gung ho

on encouraging eating a normal diet, they were very silent on encouraging

mother's milk. In fact, the second standard regarding health formula gave

much room for the multinational food packaging industry in advertising

health claims. After all infant formulas do not threaten the rice bowl of

big pharma like vitamins and minerals do.

 

Sadly too, the proposal of EU to allow GMO (genetically modified organism)

ingredients in infant formulas did not get much opposition, except from a

public interest NGO. GMO ingredients, the domains of multinational

corporations from the developed countries, will from now be openly allowed

into baby food. Let it be on record that the delegates of this 25th Session

of Codex Committee proposed and approved these patented, DNA mutating junk

ingredients.

 

We, the people of the world have entrusted WHO, FAO, and Codex Alimentarius

to regulate on health measures, to protect our health. If only the people

knew.... Codex is not about health, it is about wealth. Codex is not for

public interest, it is for industrial interest. It was super sold out. It

was super hypocrisy.

 

 

DR WONG ANG PENG

President, Society of Natural Health, The humanitarian Project - Health For All

 

Tel : 603-20941335

Address : No. 8-5, Jalan Batai, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

 

 

Posted at November 25, 2003 12:42 PM | TrackBack