The Voice of the Consumer 

Consumers for Health Choice (CHC) is an extraordinarily successful lobbying and campaigning group on natural health matters, capable of punching way above our weight on whatever issues we tackle.  CHC is made up of dedicated individuals who actively promote the rights of consumers to have ready access to a wide range of natural health care products, including vitamins & minerals, herbal remedies and other beneficial and safe supplements.  Much of our work is in challenging adverse EU legislation and pushing the appropriate regulators to use consistency, common sense and good judgement to favour consumers when framing laws that affect our health. 

CHC respects the freedom of individual choice in health matters and strives to secure not just the availability of a wide range of safe products but honest and clear labelling so that consumers can make informed decisions about their health.

How we get results 

CHC works mainly in the political arena with MPs and Peers in Westminster, Members of the European Parliament, Members of the Scottish Parliament and those from the Welsh Assembly.  CHC is also in regular dialogue with Civil Servants and regulators across Whitehall.  CHC puts consumers' first, constantly seeking their views on health matters.  Although completely independent, CHC also liaises closely with health food retailers, nutritionists and practitioners of a number of alternative and complementary therapies, as well as specialist supplement manufacturers. 

CHC has developed excellent relationships with many MPs and Peers, and as a result, our issues are constantly raised in both Houses through Early Day Motions, Written Questions and Oral Questions.  On three occasions, our concerns have led to major debates in both Houses. 

CHC is well known to all media and has worked with researchers, health and business editors and journalists to raise awareness of the supplements issues.  CHC has been fortunate to gain the support of many celebrities, particularly Jenny Seagrove and Carole Caplin, who have been invaluable in acting as front line speakers on radio, TV and for media interviews, creating remarkable features and substantial column inches.   

What we have done 

Officially launched at the House of Commons in 1996, CHC defeated proposals in 1997/98 to ban the sale of safe higher potency vitamin B6 supplements, generating 100,000 consumer letters of protest and a 300,000 named Petition to Parliament.  The following year CHC defeated attempts by the then Medicines Control Agency (now MRHR) to assume draconian new powers under Consultation MLX.249 that would have forced a substantial number of natural health products off the market by re-classifying them as medicines - restricting consumers access. 

With consumer and retailer help, CHC has run several successful lobbying campaigns, primarily against the Food Supplements Directive. 

In August 2001, Sir Paul McCartney pledged his support for our Save-Our-Supplements campaign, and helped recruit other celebrity and high profile supporters. 

In the autumn of 2002, CHC organised a national Petition against the Food Supplements Directive, collecting over one million signatures.  The Petition was presented on the floor of the House of Commons, but to the dismay of consumers, the Government remained unmoved. 

We have created miles of column inches in the national press, given over 1,000 radio interviews and made over 150 Television appearances. 

See our Diary of Actions for further details  

Current work and activities 

The Food Supplements Directive remains our priority although a raft of legislation from Europe continues to threaten consumer choice in health matters.  Our activities are substantially concentrated on the following major threats: 

* The Food Supplements Directive, 2002/46/EC, which deals with the regulation of Vitamin & Mineral food supplements. It has already passed into law and came into force across Europe on 1st August 2005.  As it currently stands, the Directive will lead to the banning of many valuable, safe and popular nutrients and bio-available nutrient sources.  At the end of 2006 we will have further information on the setting of dose levels for nutrients.  There are already indications that the EU will wish to impose unnecessarily low levels - in line with those favoured by France and Germany.  

We continue to put pressure on the British Government and Food Standards Agency (FSA) at the highest level to take decisive and positive action in Europe to keep higher safe doses and existing safe nutrients.  On 15th September 2005, the FSA agreed a strategy to 'that the setting of maximum safe levels of nutrients in food supplements should be based on scientific risk assessment' and their preferred option is 'a two tier risk assessment approach enabling MPLs to be established on an EC basis - with guidance levels to be agreed on a national basis'. 

CHC ran a very successful consumer campaign in February 2005, which specifically targeted candidates in the General Election.  Over 200 candidates promised to backed our campaign and challenged the Directive.   

We have just launched our letter writing campaign and have put one million leaflets in circulation (click here to download) - encouraging everyone to write to their MEPs, with a copy to their MP, to put pressure on the EU Commission to allow a national derogation for Member States - which would allow UK (and others if they choose to do so) keep safe and effective vitamins and minerals available.   

Substantial efforts are now being made by CHC with Downing Street officials to keep up the pressure on the Prime Minister's office and on the Board of the Food Standards Agency to achieve their objective.      

* The European Parliament adopted the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive and it was implemented in the UK on 30th October 2005.   No further 'medicinal herb' products can be launched without THMP (Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products) registration or marketing authorisation (licence) but existing products (sold legally) can remain until the transitional period ends in 2011.  The Directive aims to push herbal remedies into the same formal regulatory environment of pharmaceutical medicines.  Product registration under this directive is only open to those finished products (not the ingredients) capable of demonstrating at least 30 years use - 15 of which must be within EU - and claims bearing a 'traditional use' caveat, will be restricted to mild self-limiting conditions.  Such actions threaten the continued availability of many herbal products as well as the accessibility of herb and nutrient mixtures. 

Costs and registration requirements have yet to be clarified, but indications are that several product ranges and some smaller businesses will be decimated.  The UK herbals industry, which contains many of the smaller specialist companies, had been led to expect some flexibility in the imposition of the strictest 'pharmaceutical standards' providing that consumer safety was not jeopardised.  There is widespread apprehension that the influence of other Member States practices is covertly inhibiting British freedom of action. 

The implementation of the legislation as now planned will fail to achieve the stated objective of finding a safe harbour for many safe and effective herbal remedies currently sold in the UK.   

* The proposed Addition of Nutrients to Foods Directive was originally intended to run in parallel with the Food Supplements Directive.  However, it has not kept pace with FSD and no implementation date has been advised.   We remain concerned that the dose levels of vitamins & minerals allowed in FSD will be substantially diluted - in part to take into account the amount of nutrients that may be added to foods (breakfast cereals, drinks, dairy products etc.) across Europe. 

* The publication of the Sports Nutrition Directive (foods intended to meet the expenditure of intense muscular effort) is expected to be officially tabled in 2007.  Many of the difficulties, especially those relating to ingredients, dose levels and labelling, already identified with the Food Supplements Directive will also apply to this Directive. 

* It is the intention of the Commission to provide better labelling so that consumers can make informed choices, so the draft EU Nutrition and Health Claims Regulations have been published and are under discussion.  The formal document is due to be finalised by the end of 2006 but, we expect the proposals will not provide the information consumers need.  Examination of the proposals indicates quite clearly that they are not proportionate and carry with them much of the same difficulties we have already highlighted with the Food Supplements Directive. 

A major concern is that the proposed regulations are not confined to the actual packaging of the product.  The inclusion of the package, brand name, advertising, in-product leaflet and PR or marketing arrangements would all require approval - a huge burden on the supplier that would inevitably mean higher costs for consumers, stifle innovation and prohibit investment.    

FULL DETAILS OF THESE THREATS AND OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH THE LINKS TO OUR PAGES ABOUT EACH OF THE DIRECTIVES.