Hands off our Vitamins

British stage and film actress Jenny Seagrove has funded the Hands off our Vitamins website which aims to build on the public awareness generated by the Save Our Supplements (SOS) campaign. The campaign was launched by Consumers for Health Choice(CHC), in August, 2001.

Sue Croft, Director of CHC, said:
This is a great addition to the campaign. Jenny liked the slogan 'hands off our vitamins' which we used earlier this year as part of the SOS campaign. The new site is deliberately intended to appeal to a younger audience and give consumers the basic information in short, attention-grabbing messages. But there are also click-throughs to the CHC site where people can access more serious and in-depth information.

Source: Nutra ingredients.com

This Directive should be of concern to the USA as well as European countries. Yes, of course we'll continue to obtain valuable nutrients through our diet - but is this enough for many people, including 'at risk' groups? In addition, there is now scientific evidence showing that our food no longer contains the nutrients it once did - mainly because world soils have been adversely affected due to intensive farming and the need to feed growing populations.

The US needs to get involved in protecting their markets in the face of the EU legislation proposals. Americans are great supplements users and it would make sense for them to protect their substantial market and ensure that there's no barriers to global trading. So helping the UK to stop the Directive should be a priority.

Next to vitamins and minerals, the greatest threat is to herbal remedies. Legislation is already in place and we have until 2011 to make Regulators understand that although we all want the herbals to be safe, the huge costs being imposed by Government to register products means that hundreds of products will be lost - and consumer choice will be severely restricted. Fish oils, botanicals (herbal products currently sold under food law in the UK), essential fats, evening primrose oil, amino acids and many more will all fall under the EU hatchet. Some of them quite soon.

AJ has written an article about the Hands off our Vitamins Campaign on Janey Lee Grace's website Imperfectly Natural.com that has more information and links to a petition that you can sign.

There's also links to other websites that have information and advice about writing to the European Commission and your Member of Parliament.