CONSUMERS STEP UP CAMPAIGN IN EUROPE

FURTHER ACTIVITY SPREADS ACROSS EU FIGHTING TO SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS

The ‘Save-Our-Supplements’ campaign gathered pace across the EU as representatives from twelve Member States stepped up the pressure to keep specialist vitamin & mineral supplements available. Led by the lobby group Consumers for Health Choice (CHC), pressure is set to increase on the Commission as work continues to set maximum dose levels for dietary supplements across Europe.

Of primary importance is the new On-Line PETITION addressed to the President of the Commission and the Heads of Government of the 27 Member States. Collecting substantial numbers of signatures will be used a means to put pressure on the EU Commission and awaken Member States governments to the importance of maximum permitted levels and consumer choice.

Supplement users from EU Member States including Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Spain, plus Rumania, Bulgaria and Turkey are all determined to convince Brussels that higher range nutrients have an important role in maintaining good health. The combined approach comes at a crucial time as the Commission proceeds in its task of examining proposed dose levels put forward by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA); the beginning of a process that will set maximum levels for a wide range of nutrients in supplements throughout the EU.

The Commission has the power to set dose levels under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive, 2002/46/EC. One major problem however, is that key groups and parts of industry across the Union are divided on the issue. Of major importance is the fact that leading officials at the Commission have said quite openly that one option under serious consideration is the ‘sacrifice’ of higher UK levels for the sake of harmonising with other Member States – most of whom favour rather lower levels that those prevalent in the UK.

Sue Croft, Director of CHC said: “The situation is really serious even though the British negotiating team, led by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working very hard to secure an outcome that allows maximum consumer choice. But that is not the case with other countries and they seem quite happy to accept the ‘one-size fits all’ approach being proposed. It really makes no sense to set the same level for everyone. After all, the diet and lifestyle for the population in Italy or Greece it quite different from that in say, Latvia or Finland – so their nutritional needs are different”.

Croft continued; “We all know that eating habits have changed substantially in the past decade. Now, only around 5% of the Western population eats what could be described as a healthy and varied diet, therefore the majority of people do not get the regular supply of essential nutrients they need from their food – which means they are not properly protected against illness. The obvious answer to overcome this is the use of supplementation”.

Signing the On-Line PETITION and writing more letters to the Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou is something everyone can do – and the time to do it is NOW!

The message is clear – Consumers want to keep their higher dose specialist nutrient. Maximum Levels should be set on the basis of sound science only and not restricted to the low levels favoured by some Member States to protect their own existing markets; if a product is safe, properly manufactured and legally labelled – we should be allowed to use it.