Fwd: ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN

[Guest guest]

31 Jan 2004 09:12:15 -0000

" IAHF.COM "

 

ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS

BAN

 

IAHF WEBMASTER: Breaking News, Whats New, All Countries, What to Do

 

IAHF LIST: Today in London I witnessed a historic victory over the Pharma

Cartel, and would like to thank those of you who so generously donated to ANH's

legal campaign.

 

We can now apply for interim relief to stop the directive, pending the hearing

we will now be getting in the European Court of Justice at a later, as yet

undetermined date.

 

ANH's attorney Conor Quigley QC delivered a flawless argument to which we could

see the Judge nodding his assent, which gave us all a real feeling of hope going

into the lunch break. The real hub of the case was the recognition that the

directive produced by the European Commission went much further than it needed

to to achieve what it set out to do, which was harmonize products across Europe.

 

(In other words, the ban of around 5000 products containing vitamins and

minerals in the UK alone, could well be illegal- not to mention the blockade on

products being exported from the United States.) What ANH now will be doing is

proving in the EU Court of Justice that the Directive is invalid because its

illegally brought in the bans on the back of a harmonizing directive.

 

The result if ANH wins at the next stage will be that any country in the EU can

continue using products that go beyond the restrictions imposed by the positive

list. So places like the UK, Holland, Sweden and Ireland can remain safe havens

for innovative products.

 

The fascinating thing is that people in Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and

Italy, all of which have highly restrictive regimes, are now getting behind ANH

because they value access to innovative products and nutritional therapies.

 

We may have had a victory today, but this is the beginning of a long road, and

its going to be won by consumers around the world taking control of these issues

by getting behind such organizations as IAHF, ANH, Mayday, La Leva di Archimede,

National Health Federation, and others which are untainted by Pharma Influence.

 

We still have some way to go to pay legal bills to date, so please continue to

give whatever you can to pay the best legal team in Europe which was there for

you today and are still owed fees. Donations can be made via

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org

 

See press release below- I'll be in the UK for another few days, and will

provide additional information shortly, including photos which I'll be uploading

to the IAHF website.

 

John Hammell, reporting live from the UK

 

--\

-------------------

ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE

TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN

 

The landmark cases brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and two UK

industry Associations have been successful both in getting permission for

Judicial Review and obtaining a reference to the European Court of Justice in

their challenge to the legality of the Food Supplements Directive ban on

nutrients.

 

Mr Justice Richards today gave judgment and emphasised that the reference to the

European Court should be made without delay.

 

This is a test case on the proper scope of the legislative powers of the

Community Legislator over member states and has far reaching implications for

health and consumer and business freedom of choice.

 

The industry and complimentary health organisations around Europe are hopeful

that the European Court of Justice will give its ruling prior to the imposition

of the ban which comes into on 1 August 2005, on up to 270 forms of vitamins and

minerals that are currently available in food supplements sold in markets such

as the UK, Sweden, Ireland and The Netherlands.

 

CONTACT DETAILS for further information:

Dr Robert Verkerk

Executive Director

Tel: 01252 371 275 (general enquiries)

Tel: 0771 484 7225 (direct)

E-mail: robv

 

David Hinde, Solicitor

Legal Director

Tel: 07958 548 186 (direct)

E-mail: davidh

 

ANH LANDMARK LEGAL CHALLENGE TO

EU FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN

 

Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Bianca Jagger are among thousands of

consumers all over Europe supporting the Alliance for Natural Health (“ANH”) in

its application for Judicial Review of the Food Supplements Directive, which is

to be heard in the High Court on Friday 30 January. Unless challenged

successfully, the Directive will ban, from 2005, thousands of safe products

which have been available for years.

 

ANH Executive Director, Dr Robert Verkerk, says: “People have had enough – this

Directive is supposed to be promoting trade in food supplements in the EU but

actually has the reverse effect. It will prohibit from sale many of the more

advanced, safe supplements currently available in the UK, Sweden, Ireland and

Holland, forcing these countries to comply with a much more restrictive regime

more typical of the existing regimes in countries like Germany and France. The

governments of these countries are openly hostile to advanced food supplements.

We go to court next Friday to commence a test case to address this anomaly with

a goal of obtaining a legal regime which befits the 21st Century. We want to

ensure that the Directive supports the role of nutrition at the heart of

healthcare policy.

 

We readily endorse the notion of reasonable and proportionate legislation for

natural products. But moves to ban around 300 of the 420 or so vitamin and

mineral forms currently on the market must be resisted, particularly when this

will prevent the sale of some of the most beneficial food supplements that have

a long and unblemished track record of safety.”

 

The ANH is supported by consumers, practitioners, and manufacturers and

retailers of innovative food supplements, across 43 countries. Over 80% of funds

raised to-date for the challenge have come from the end-users of these

innovative food supplements, who are greatly concerned that the Directive will

deprive them of access to advanced, bioavailable and effective products of their

choice.

 

David Hinde, Solicitor and Legal Director of the ANH adds: “We have lined up a

legal team of the highest calibre with barristers from Brick Court Chambers and

solicitors at the Simkins Partnership. ANH’s challenge is based on EU

constitutional law grounds. We say that the ban on food supplements imposed by

the Directive is quite unnecessary in order to facilitate the internal market

and thus goes beyond the legal powers of the Community legislator.

 

This case may well prove to be a landmark decision on the interface between EU

legislative powers, the sovereignty of Member States and the protection of

individual and companies’ rights. We support appropriate legislation but the

Directive in its present form is unworkable and will have a catastrophic effect

on the emerging market for advanced high potency and effective food

supplements.”

 

Erica Murray of the Irish Association of Health Stores who has worked closely

with ANH gathering commercial data from Ireland, comments: “This Directive needs

to be modified if it’s going to deal fairly with the thousands of smaller

businesses involved with innovative natural health products across Europe.

Otherwise it will give a huge competitive advantage to the big companies, which

dominate mass-market sales of lower potency vitamin and mineral supplements from

supermarkets and pharmacies. We have lodged voluminous evidence from the UK,

Sweden, Ireland and Italy to show that the Directive – if unchallenged – will

have dire consequences for hundreds of smaller businesses in the UK and other

parts of Europe.”

 

Ms Murray adds: “We are pleased to see that other associations have now also

seen the light. In particular, we welcome the decision of the UK trade

associations – the National Association of Health Stores and the Health Food

Manufacturers Association – to mount a parallel challenge. We hope Europe gets

the message that people want their advanced supplements. More and more people

are choosing natural products and this freedom of choice should not be denied.”

---end.

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

 

 

Micronutritient deficiencies in the ‘typical diet’

Although many health authorities continue to claim that it is possible to obtain

all the nutrients required in a “balanced and varied diet,” there is a rapidly

growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that large groups of

people do not meet the minimum nutritional requirements established through

reference intakes, let alone those needed for optimum health. Micronutritional

status has been shown to be particularly inadequate for particular groups such

as the young, elderly, vegans or patients with malabsorption. ,

Many factors contribute to reduced micronutrient intake.

 

These include inadequate consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, increased

consumption of processed foods, poor dietary choices, lower food intake caused

by less active lifestyles and inappropriate cooking methods. Furthermore,

intensive training regimes, stress, smoking and exposure to environmental

chemicals places additional demands on the body and increases the requirement

for particular micronutrients. For example, that a smoker needs to consume 4

times the RDA of Vitamin C in order to have the same plasma level of Vitamin C

as a non-smoker.

 

National nutrition surveys undertaken in the UK have shown that that large

minorities are not reaching their dietary targets for Reference Nutrient Intakes

(RNIs). , , In the case of the elderly, inadequate intake of vitamin D,

magnesium, Vitamin K and copper have been of particular concern.9

 

In a major UK survey of dietary habits of 4 to 18 year-olds, it has been shown

that the most commonly consumed foods are white bread, savoury snacks, chips,

biscuits, potatoes and chocolate confectionery. Additionally, it was found that

boys eat, by weight, nearly four times as many biscuits than leafy green

vegetables, while girls eat, by weight, more than four times as much sweets and

chocolate than leafy green vegetables.

 

The same survey also revealed that 91% of girls aged 4-6 years failed to reach

the RNI for zinc (a key mineral required for the immune system); while 97 % of

girls aged 15 to 18 years did not reach the RNI for magnesium, 73% did not reach

the RNI for zinc, and 53 % did not reach the RNI (200 ìg) for folic acid,

despite recent studies that demonstrate that intakes well over 400 ìg are likely

to be required to minimise risk of neural tube defects.

 

The case for supplementation

There has been a rapid recent expansion of the body of scientific evidence in

peer-reviewed journals which demonstrates that use of food supplements can

improve overall nutritional status and key bio-markers for health as well as

reduce risk of chronic diseases.11

 

However, many of the large scale clinical studies carried out to investigate the

effects of nutrient supplementation have involved single or limited numbers of

nutrients, often at suboptimal doses. Such studies are likely to underestimate

the benefits of supplementation, given that many nutrients function

synergistically.

 

A major review of studies on the relationships between vitamin intake and

various diseases published between 1966 and 2002 demonstrated that suboptimal

levels of vitamin intake are associated with increased risk of contracting a

variety of chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and osteoporosis.

The authors of this study concluded that many physicians may be unaware of

common food sources of vitamins or may be unsure which vitamins they should

recommend for their patients and given the current status of scientific

knowledge it may be prudent for most adults to supplement their diet with a

daily multivitamin.11

 

A study which followed 11,178 people between the ages of 67 and 105 over the

period 1984 - 1993 concluded that the overall risk of death was reduced by 42%

for those who took higher dose supplements of vitamins C and E.

 

It was demonstrated conclusively following a randomised double-blind prevention

trial across 7 countries that women who took supplements containing 400 ìg folic

acid reduced the risk of having babies with neural tube defects such as spina

bifida by some 72%.

 

In a very large study of 88,756 women from the Nurses' Health Study who were

free of cancer in 1980 and provided updated assessments of diet, including

multivitamin supplement use, from 1980 to 1994, were followed through for colon

cancer. It was found that long term use (over 15 years use), but not short-term

use (less than 4 years use) of multivitamins containing folic acid markedly

reduced (ca. 5-fold) the frequency of colon cancer.

 

In a further epidemiological study involving 87,245 female nurses, it was found,

after adjustment for age and smoking, that long-term Vitamin E supplementation

alone was associated with a 9% reduction in heart disease. Vitamin C (1000 mg

/day) and E (800 IU /day) supplements have been shown to significantly reduce

the development of arteriosclerosis.

 

In a clinical intervention study (CHAOS) of 2002 coronary patients by Cambridge

University scientists, supplementation of up to 800 IU vitamin E (in the

á-tocopherol form) per day for over two years was associated with reductions in

the frequencies of heart attacks by as much as 75%.

 

It has been shown that long-term micronutritional deficiencies cause damage to

DNA much in the same way as radiation and such oxidative stress is likely to

contribute to the development of cancer.

For Health Freedom,

John C. Hammell, President

International Advocates for Health Freedom

556 Boundary Bay Road

Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA

http://www.iahf.com

jham

800-333-2553 N.America

360-945-0352 World

 

 

 

 

 

 

SiteBuilder - Free web site building tool. Try it!