| Today the ANH has
released its ground-breaking critique of
the European Commission's proposal to
impose EU-wide restrictions on maximum
dosages of vitamins and minerals in food
supplements and fortified foods. These
methods are likely to form the basis for
internationally agreed maximum levels
for food/dietary supplements containing
vitamins and minerals through
Codex Alimentarius, so they have
global relevance. ANH PRESS RELEASE
EU COMMISSION’S PROPOSALS TO LIMIT
VITAMIN AND MINERAL DOSES NOT FIT FOR
PURPOSE
A group of scientists and doctors,
led by Scientific Director of the
Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), Dr
Robert Verkerk, and ANH’s Medical
Director, Dr Damien Downing, is calling
for the European Commission to review
the methods it is contemplating using to
set maximum permitted levels for
vitamins and minerals in food
supplements and fortified foods. The
scientists claim that the methods being
considered are both “unscientific” and
“flawed”.
Today the ANH unveils its position
paper which explains its reasons for
criticising the Commission’s proposals,
which are planned to become law EU-wide
within the next two years. Robert
Verkerk says, “The Commission claims
that its methods are scientific but we
have found that they do not stand up to
scientific scrutiny”.
Under the Food Supplements Directive
and Fortified Foods Regulation, the
Commission is required to propose
maximum and minimum levels of vitamins
and minerals for both food supplements
and fortified foods. It is expected that
the levels will be finalised in 2009 and
early indications are that Member States
such as the UK, Netherlands, Sweden and
Ireland, that have until now allowed
relatively high levels, might have to
face big reductions in dosages.
Dr Robert Verkerk added: “You know
something is wrong when they are
thinking of limiting the dose of
beta-carotene to the amount you’d find
in just two carrots, and restricting
selenium to the amount present in less
than two brazil nuts. There seems to
have been no attempt to test the models
against real data. If the Commission
really believed these doses might be the
highest safe doses, why aren’t they
screaming for warning labels to be put
on bags of carrots and brazil nuts?”
Dr Damien Downing, also President of
the British Society of Ecological
Medicine and Editor of the peer reviewed
scientific journal, Journal of
Nutritional & Environmental Medicine,
added: “The methods are simply not fit
for purpose. It is the multiple use of
safety or uncertainty factors that
further compounds the reduction of
levels from so-called Safe Upper Levels,
that are often overly cautious to begin
with. The resulting maximum levels,
should these be implemented in law,
would prevent many consumers from
ingesting the levels of vitamins and
minerals needed for optimal health and
would also greatly interfere with
consumer choice.”
Jill Bell, President of the Irish
Association of Health Stores, stated:
“The fact that the setting of maximum
dosages for vitamins and minerals is
being based on such poor science makes a
mockery of the EU’s attempts to regulate
this area.”
The ANH is meeting today in Dublin
with Green Party Health Spokesperson
Senator Deirdre de Burca, as well as
with the heads of other key
organizations, Nutritional Therapists of
Ireland, the Irish Association of
Nutritional Therapy, the Irish
Association of Health Stores and the
Irish Health Trade Association.
The ANH’s position paper includes a
consideration of features that would be
required for the development of a new,
scientifically valid and proportionate
risk management model. Verkerk added:
“We believe a new model should be
developed within an independent,
academic setting rather than being
subject to the often conflicting
pressures of industrial stakeholders and
political processes. We are hoping that
concerns about the European Commission’s
proposed approach will help it to
drastically alter its proposed approach
to the determination of maximum levels,
which would otherwise be
disproportionate in its effect and may
in turn be subject to legal challenge.”
CONTACT
Dr Robert Verkerk
Executive & Scientific Director
Alliance for Natural Health
The Atrium, Curtis Road
Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA
United Kingdom
Tel +44 (0)1306 646 600
Fax +44 (0)1306 646 552
Email
info@anhcampaign.org
NOTES FOR EDITORS
About the European
Commission’s proposal
European Commission
Discussion Paper, June 2006:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/supplements/discus_paper_amount_vitamins.pdf
Consultation Responses to Discussion
Paper:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/supplements/resp_discus_paper_amount_vitamins.htm
Alliance for Natural Health
ANH Position Paper on Maximum
Permitted Levels (released 24 October
2007):
http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/_docs/ANHwebsiteDoc_290.pdf
ANH consultation response (September
2006):
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/supplements/documents/anh_en.pdf
About the Alliance for Natural Health
(ANH)
The ANH was founded in 2002 and is a
UK-based, internationally-active,
non-governmental organization, working
to help positively shape the regulatory
and scientific framework affecting
natural health. As an alliance, the ANH
brings together, globally, scientists,
medical doctors, integrative
practitioners, lawyers and consumers, as
well as suppliers of food supplements
and other health foods, as a means of
working towards the development of
sustainable approaches to healthcare.
The ANH has been involved in extensive
consultations with the World Health
Organisation, the European Commission,
the European Food Safety Authority and a
range of EU Member State governments.
The ANH brought a legal challenge to the
Food Supplements Directive in 2003 which
was heard in the European Court of
Justice in Luxembourg in 2004-5 where it
received important clarification.
www.anhcampaign.org
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Deborah
Dean - SNHS Sponsored Runner - will be competing in
2008
