Update from Alliance for Natural Health + WDDTY's opinion

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Update from Alliance for Natural Health + WDDTY's opinion

Sun, 27 Feb 2005 16:06:51 -0000

Alliance for Natural Health

 

 

 

 

UK BASED ANH MEMBERS – WE URGENTLY NEED YOUR HELP NOW - ADOPT A HEALTH

STORE!

 

This is an urgent request for your help as a member of the ANH that

will make a difference.

 

As many of you will be aware, funding is currently a major issue for

the Alliance for Natural Health given the magnitude of the issues we

are tackling, and with 80% of our donations coming from individuals we

really need to rally their support and willingness to donate.

 

We believe that one of the most effective means of reaching

individuals who care about supplements is through consumers who buy

supplements and other natural products in health stores. There are

over 1000 independent health stores in the UK alone - and these are

instrumental to our " Adopt a Health Store " campaign which aims to help

raise the awareness of consumers in health stores as well as gain

donations needed for us to continue our work.

 

Having just had the oral hearing regarding our case to overturn the

vitamin and mineral ban in the European Court of Justice, we are faced

with a huge range of tasks ahead, that are critical if we are to

succeed in helping to ensure your health freedom and which require

funding. Since the ANH was formed in early-2002, we have now raised

more than £440,000 for our pan-European and international campaign and

we are truly grateful for the grass-roots support that has largely

been responsible for this.

 

When considering that the first legal views for challenging the Food

Supplements Directive suggested it would cost around £1 million in

legal fees alone, I think we can confidently report that our

activities have been very cost-effective to-date. Much of this is

because of the sheer hard work of a small number of dedicated people,

many who have worked with us in a voluntary capacity. Those who have

been paid, have often been paid a fraction of their normal rate.

 

Our main achievements to-date include:

 

*

Raised public awareness of the significance of these issues to

the long-term sustainability of natural healthcare

*

Making significant amendments to EU legislation through

collaboration with Members of the European Parliament

* Bringing the landmark legal challenge against the EU Food

Supplements Directive in the English and European Courts

* Promoting rational science and good law as the basis on which

nutritional supplement " maximum levels " are assessed

* Creating a united front of common interests across Europe, the

USA and many other countries

 

Our existing flyer -based fundraising campaign is reaching some health

stores via distributors and manufacturers of products, but we need to

be certain that every independent health store across the country is

getting its proper supply of flyers and more importantly that these

are then getting into the hands of customers, who can then donate.

 

We have thus developed " Adopt a Health Store " ; a campaign which asks

you, our members, to act as the face of the ANH with one or more

health stores in your area.

 

SO, WHAT ARE WE ASKING OF YOU?

 

Very simply that you call in regularly to your chosen health store(s) to:

 

* Ensure they have a sufficient supply of flyers.

* Encourage a flyer to be included with every purchase made by a

customer.

* Make sure the store is aware of the ANH, what it does and has

achieved to date.

* Make it clear that the vitamins ban has every chance of being

overturned and that there is every reason to be hopeful.

* And finally to encourage them to communicate to their customers

the real need for their donations if unnecessary restrictions on

natural health products are to be overcome.

 

As you will know, the facts are that the court hearing in Luxembourg

went extremely well and now we have to wait for the Judges to make

their decision, which is expected in June. Between now and then there

is much that can be done. This will be achieved, mainly through

intense media activity and by ensuring that the EU really appreciates

the true strength of feeling about this very important freedom of

choice issue from all those who stand to be affected by it including

consumers of supplements, health stores, practitioners, distributors

and manufacturers. The initiatives necessary to make this happen

require funding.

 

And of course, this is not all. You will be aware of a substantial

number of other major legislative and regulatory measures in the

pipeline which threaten your health freedom just as much as the Food

Supplements Directive. In order to pursue initiatives to address these

threats with the vigour and focus it has applied to the Food

Supplements Directive, the ANH requires substantial funding.

 

Specifically we will require at least £250,000 during 2005 to help

fund the following:

 

* Outstanding legal fees for the legal challenge now in the

European Court of Justice using the world's leading EU law barristers

* Technical scientific and legal work on EU threats and

consultations with Regulators

* Evaluation and preparation for potential future legal challenges

* Development of a new framework for nutrient-appropriate risk

assessment for food supplement ingredients

* Professional public affairs lobbying in Brussels, notably most

immediately on the EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation

* Public and media awareness campaign, particularly to reflect the

strength of public opinion against the ban and to offset negative

media on natural health care issues

* Communications activities, to garner support

 

Without adequate funding we will have a much reduced chance of

succeeding in our objectives.

 

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

 

For our " adopt a health store " campaign, we will make available to you

a tool kit for each store comprising:

 

1. As many flyers as you need to give each store (we suggest 500 to

1000). We will of course be happy to re-stock stores when they run low

of supply.

 

2. A letter from me explaining to the Store owner what we are asking

of them.

 

3. Copies of recent press cuttings that stores can display in their

windows and also give to customers to help them understand the situation.

 

The letter and press cuttings are on our website and if you click here

it will take you directly to the documents which you can print off.

You will also find the flyer here which you can print out and read in

advance of letting us know how many printed flyers you would like.

 

So that we can manage this process efficiently and ensure that there

is no duplication of adopters for each store I would be grateful if

you could e-mail our Campaign Co-ordinator, Isobel Bradley

(info) with the name and location of the

store or stores you wish to adopt.

 

Isobel will then get back to you to confirm which store(s) it would be

appropriate for you to adopt. We would then ask that you call into the

store and ask them how many flyers they would like and we can then

send them to you to take to the store.

 

We have recently been conducting surveys of consumers in health stores

and have been amazed how many people are still largely unaware of the

issues. In addition, we have discovered that a significant number of

consumers believe that there is no likelihood that the ban can be

overturned. This is certainly not our view! This misinformation which

leads to apathy is being triggered largely by mixed messages in the

press and even by certain sectors of the industry that support global

harmonisation of natural products. It is only the leading-edge,

innovative sector, represented by the ANH, that has consistently

voiced its objection to specific regulations such as the vitamin and

mineral ban in Europe.

 

This is your chance to help make a real difference. We need you to

help us reinvigorate people and health stores, to let them know that

it is by no means too late to beat the ban and that the ANH is

optimistic that this will indeed be the case. BUT funding is required

for the ANH to help achieve the health freedom we all deserve.

 

So please do help us with this important initiative.

 

Thanking you for your support.

 

 

 

Yours sincerely – in health

Robert Verkerk

Executive director

Alliance for Natural Health

Tel 01252 371 275

Email info

Web www.alliance-natural-health.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday, February 24, 2005 8:39 PM

THE EU BAN: How the fight is going, and how you can help

 

 

THE EU BAN: How the fight is going, and how you can help

 

Quite a few readers have been wondering how goes the fight against the

EU's ban of vitamins, which could see 300 supplements disappearing

from health shops by August. So this week we've spoken with Dr Rob

Verkerk of the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), which is challenging

the legislation in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Rob tells us that the Advocate General is expected to provide a

preliminary view on 5 April, but the final decision of the court won't

be known until June.

 

The ANH believes that there has never been a more important time to

keep the pressure up. Apart from the ban on vitamin and mineral

forms, further bans on other nutrients like amino acids and

phytonutrients are planned by the EU, as is the imposition of maximum

dosages of nutrients in supplements that are likely to be well below

those required for significant benefit. Perhaps worst of all is a

blanket, EU-wide Regulation on Nutrition and Health Claims that, in

its proposed form, amounts to nothing short of an infringement of

freedom of speech. It's already been knocked out of the European

Parliament once, in April 2004, but it's coming back for another round

in 2005. The European Commission is very keen on it and says that it

will protect consumers. The ANH is concerned that it could have

precisely the reverse effect in important areas.

 

 

A key part of the EU's plans is to control such things as ingredients

in food supplements and health claims by ensuring that commercial

interests submit substantial amounts of data that are intended to

prove safety. This appears reasonable as it's supposed to protect

consumers. Under the total harmonisation systems proposed, now under

challenge in the ANH's current case before the European Court,

everything that is not specifically permitted is in fact banned. This

is extremely fundamental as it means freedom becomes permissive rather

than residual. It is a gargantuan 'turning of the tables' from the

present state of law in countries like the UK. So, if a smaller

company does not have the resources to submit the data, an ingredient,

a product or a health claim gets banned, whether or not the ingredient

has existed naturally in foods and has been consumed safely and with

beneficial results for thousands of years. Nor does it matter whether

the claim can be substantiated by good science. The irony is that the

bigger companies that could afford to submit data simply are not

interested, while the smaller companies that would dearly like to

submit data to get their products through the new regulatory door,

simply can't afford to do so.

 

The science being used to determine maximum doses is also irrational,

says Rob. Risk assessment models used for inherently toxic substances

such as pharmaceuticals and pesticides are being applied to essential

nutrients. The precautionary principle that is applied to this " worst

case scenario " approach ensures that ridiculously low levels are

determined as " maximum levels " purportedly to ensure safety for all.

The flaws in such models are huge and their implementation would

deprive very large numbers of people of beneficial dosages of

nutrients. The ANH has submitted a ground-breaking report, endorsed

by leading doctors and clinical nutritionists around the world, to the

FAO/WHO (United Nations) who are presently evaluating nutrient-risk

assessment methods for Codex Alimentarius (world food guidelines).

 

The resulting protocols will be used to establish maximum dosages,

which will be implemented in due course across Europe via the Food

Supplements Directive.

 

The ANH has just launched a new initiative called Adopt a Health

Store. " We've been amazed to find how few people buying products in

health stores are aware of the regulatory issues that are likely to

affect availability of popular products in the very near future. By

helping health stores to become information points for the campaign,

for the distribution of flyers and relevant articles and information,

people can be mobilised in all sorts of ways to help bring about

change, " says Rob.

 

So how can you help? The ANH is appealing to anyone who values their

continued supply of leading-edge natural health products to contact

its Campaign Administrator, Isobel Bradley, by email

info (or tel: 01252 371 275), so that they

can 'adopt' a health store or two in their local areas. As the ANH is

a not-for-profit, donation-funded organisation, with a very ambitious

agenda for 2005, donations are urgently required. Donations can

easily be made online via a secure server at

www.alliance-natural-health.org or cheques may be sent direct to the

ANH registered office, made out to " Alliance for Natural Health " , and

sent to ANH Campaign Fund, Mount Manor House, 16 The Mount, Guildford,

Surrey GU2 4HS. Find out more about the ANH campaign and its work via

the ANH website www.alliance-natural-health.org.

 

 

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