Another British industry under the EU cosh

Today I was brought up to date by the health foods and supplements industry. They are awaiting their doom from Brussels.

The Food Supplements Directive proposes maximum dosages for vitamins and similar products. These are likely to be well below the levels used and recommended in the UK. The Nutrition and Health claims regulation will require businesses to submit full and detailed scientific papers as if these were drugs before advertising slogans are permitted. The industry thinks it could result in many closed shops and closed busiensses here in the UK

Meanwhile Uk buyers are likely to take to the internet to find product from outside the EU which does not come under these strictures. It looks like another own goal from Brussels to put the UK at a disadvantage. I will take it up again with Dawn Primarolo, the responsible UK Minister, but don ‘t hold your breath for a happy outcome. I doubt she has the much advertised influence in Brussels to get a good result.

23 Comments

  1. alan jutson
    March 3, 2009

    They know best as usual !!!

  2. Adrian Peirson
    March 3, 2009

    There is a plethora of research showing that Vitamins, Minerals, and Herbs are beneficial, it is of course complete nonesense that ONLY Pharmaceutical drugs are good for you.
    The globalists RULE the World, Parliament is a charade.
    If you / they want to see published ressearch on any supplement or any condition the information is widely available, but they will not listen because their intention is to shut down anything that competes with their Globalist pupptemasters.
    I’m getting sick of these people.

    Pick a condition, Pick a supplement and the reserach is WIDELY AVAILABLE.

    http://www.lef.org

    1. Adrian Peirson
      March 3, 2009

      Sorry missed out the correct link :-
      http://www.lef.org/protocols

  3. Robin Hood
    March 3, 2009

    This is just the start. In America they are using SWAT teams to raid vitamin suppliers under the guidance of the FDA. Who is going to finance the research Dawn Primalo? There are no patents on vitamins so there is no way to get billions out of the NHS to pay for the research work to be done. The government hardly funds pharmaceutical research at all it is all in the hands of international pharmaceutical companies. This is just the results of lobbying the EU to remove competition from the medical drug markets.

    Due to too many years following medical advice to stay out of the sun I developed severe symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency. This is the one vitamin they cannot regulate as you can get 10 to 20 thousand international units in just half an hour at midday in Bordeaux. The RDA though, is just 400 International Units. Did Captain Cook have to prepare a scientific paper on his voyage to the Pacific when he handed out lemons to prevent scurvy? I am sure the EU bureaucrats will claim this is to protect us but it is the continuation of the protection of big pharma.

    For more on Vitamin D go to the VitaminD Council web site and for examples of attacks on health food and nutrition read Mike Adams at Natural News, be prepared to be shocked.

  4. number 6
    March 3, 2009

    John,

    Please tell me again, why do the Conservatives support our continued ‘membership’ of this dire political construct?

    REPLY I voted No in 1975 so don’t blame me.

    1. APL
      March 3, 2009

      JR: “I voted No in 1975 so don’t blame me.”

      We know that Mr Redwood neither I think do we blame you personally. We do (least wise I do) blame the Tory party.

      Consider yourself lucky, I never even got a vote!

  5. Baldwin
    March 3, 2009

    This is just another set of unhelpful rulings created by Brussels bureaucrats filling their time.

    Regarding UK influence on the EU, it started quite low on joining only to be reduced further by widening membership and New Labour’s naive compliance.

  6. number 6
    March 3, 2009

    Not attempting to blame you. Just wish the party as a whole would come out against the EU. Sadly, I am not holding my breath for that particular stance.

    1. David morris
      March 3, 2009

      Mainstream politicians will never take us out of the disgustingly corrupt EU exactly because it is … disgustingly corrupt. No need to balance the books, justify your expenses or be accountable to anyone, the perfect retirement cream bun for politicians who fail in their own countries.

      1. number 6
        March 5, 2009

        David,

        Such a statement is scandalous in the extreme, why think of the noble politicians who have gone to the EU with no concern other than to better the lot of the UK citizens Neil Kinnock, Peter Mandelson, er hold on let me think of some others, er ……

  7. no one
    March 3, 2009

    no sure this is the best fight to pick

    some food supplements are dangerous over doses, really dont see any problem having them banned if its easy to prove with routine science that they are a harmful overdoes

    no different to banning lead in paint in my view

    i have many problems with europe but having idiots selling dangerous overdoses to folk who dont know better isnt something i would support, and i think should be easily and cheaply banned

    1. StevenL
      March 3, 2009

      You mean like selling heroin and cocaine is easily and cheaply banned???

    2. Adrian Peirson
      March 4, 2009

      People have died drinking water, is that to be regulated too, actually it is already of course. I mean what would happen if you refused to pay your bill, why dont we collect rainwater any more.
      I’ve drunk it, it tastes beautifull, and me and my children have drunk from streams oin camoing trips, and eaten wild plants (known to be edible ) the globalists have us by the Proverbials.
      you are now required to own a licence just to OWN a fishing rod.
      This is all deliberate, we are being Farmed.
      We need to break free of this, we need to be individually self sufficient, by which I mean we should be able to go to tescos if it is there, but we ought to have other options and that is being taken away from us.
      It is all by design.

  8. Marksany
    March 3, 2009

    I agree that the EU is not failing to take yet another swipe at our democracy, but this is not one worth fighting on content.

    Food supplements are mostly a waste of time & money. and occasionally harmful. If there is a supplement you actually need, you will still be able to get it on prescription or from a pharmacy, such as iron & folic acid for mothers.

    The attitude of the alternative medicine crowd to real medicine is positively harmful (witness the current measles outbreak or AIDs in South Africa)

    Anything which hits Patrick Holford in the pocket is a good thing by me.

    1. Barbara
      March 4, 2009

      “If there is a supplement you actually need, you will still be able to get it on prescription”

      Yes – for £7.50 – roughly twice the price I have just paid for a supplement!! This is just a money-raising exercise.

    2. Mr Ecks
      March 4, 2009

      You may not like vitamins etc–then don’t take them–don’t be telling me what to do.

  9. PR
    March 3, 2009

    The party which you represent will do nothing about the EU which is why I cancelled my membership.

    You can’t change the EU from the inside. All this talk of remaining in the EU so we have influence is utter nonsense. The only way to stop the madness is to withdraw.

  10. Doug
    March 3, 2009

    I have no problem in principle with this so long as it based on the best available research and under constant review. Of course any EU involvement always gets the hackles up. Vitamins and to a lesser extent minerals, are pharmacologically active substances like drugs (if they weren’t there would be no point taking them) and that if abused will cause damage to your health. In relation to other comments it is the same pharmaceutical companies that manufacture large quantities of vitamins and minerals who also research and sell their billion dollar patented drugs. In any case a proper diet negates the need for supplements. Supplements should really only be taken after consultation with your GP.

  11. Bazman
    March 3, 2009

    Interesting business model. An American company operating from the UK selling mainly to Germany. Essentially the customer is the salesman, like pyramid selling. Commission comes from the person who recommends the product. Never work in Britain as the British would not tell who recommended this company. some Germans make millions of Euros a month selling these products on, whilst others just buy overpriced, but top quality products.

    http://www.lifeplus.com/SelectCountry.asp

  12. mikestallard
    March 4, 2009

    If you live in a country which has its rules dictated by a tiny committee of unelected people, then how do they make their decisions?
    The must get input from somewhere. Quite often, the information will come from quite ridiculous sources and every effort will be made to prevent access from other points of view. Hence the importance of the hairdresser, the lobbyist, the acceptance of bungs, the code of omerta practised by the inner circle and their minions, and the exclusion of any form of independent media coverage. Mistresses, wives and family members do extremely well in this sort of silent regime.
    Today the classic example is the EU, which was deliberately made like this in the very beginning (Christopher Booker).
    Another example is Mr Brown’s 10 Downing Street.
    The trouble with this model of government is the surprising ease of issuing diktats which are not only badly thought out but which also hurt large numbers of unrepresented people.
    Democrats and true liberals (like me) much prefer the thorough public discussion of any new brainwaves by people who not only know what they are talking about but also are agreed on by the majority of the groups which the laws affect.
    It is slower. But it works.

    1. adam
      March 4, 2009

      as it turns out the EU is told what to do by the UN.
      This is probably to do with Codex Alimentarius

  13. no one
    March 6, 2009

    you know been thinking about this one

    you would be on better political ground fighting for mushy peas which i understand brussels is trying to ban the colouring, and prawn cocktail crisps (is this a myth it seems too ridiculous to be true?) flavour being banned

    mushy peas should of course be of interest to mandy our deputy PM er i mean Secretary of State for Business (remind me how many real businesses he has worked in ?)

    ah well these things make me smile

    i tell you what if some idiot tries to ban mushy peas there WILL be a revolution, banking problems will look like nothing

    🙂

  14. Medea
    March 20, 2009

    Using natural medicine to stay well has been around for thousands of years and it is a human right to be free to choose the type of health care one wants. The EU is taking away this right and this is plain wrong. Given the amount of disease that costs the NHS a fortune and the pressures on it you would think that the politicians would welcome people being responsible and taking steps to stay well. The balanced diet is a myth and today’s foods are nutrient-poor so restricting supplements will damage human health.
    Medea

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