FDA May Be Getting Ready To Water-Down Your Vitamin Pills

 

'It’s been on the docket since 2007 for the Food & Drug Administration to revamp nutrient guidelines for the American population. The FDA says it is close to issuing a new guideline that may water-down essential nutrients in foods and multivitamins.

At issue is whether the FDA will use the relied-upon RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) that covers the nutrients needs of 98% of the population or the EAR (Estimated Average Requirement) which only addresses the nutrient level needed to meet the needs of 50% of the population.

While the proposed FDA rule is anticipated any time now (it will have to withstand a public comment period), one wonders whether the FDA will take into consideration a newly-published report showing the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) level would leave many Americans short of meeting their need for essential vitamins and minerals.'

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Herbal Medicines Banned as EU Directive Comes into Force

'Patients have lost access to hundreds of herbal medicines today, after European regulations came into force. Sales of all herbal remedies, except for a small number of popular products for 'mild' illness such as echinacea for colds and St John's Wort for depression have been banned. For the first time traditional products must be licensed or prescribed by a registered herbal practitioner. Some of the most commonly used products were saved after the Health Secretary Andrew Lansley approved a plan for the Health Professions Council to establish a register of practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines. However, many remedies were lost as it was only open to those who could afford the licensing process which costs between £80,000 to £120,000.' 


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Codex Alimentarius and Food Irradiation in the U.S.

'I have written several articles dealing with the risk assessment methods used by Codex Alimentarius in order to water down the levels of nutrition available in vitamin and mineral supplements, as well as the potential removal of many supplements from the market entirely. All of this is of vital importance. However, Codex Alimentarius Guidelines are relevant to many more issues than just vitamins and minerals. One of these issues has to do with food irradiation.

Clearly a threat to public health, irradiated foods are not safe for human consumption and contribute to a host of health problems such as cancer and birth defects. Irradiation also causes genetic damage to cells. One of the reasons for this is the fact that irradiated food is exposed to gamma rays of radioactive material or electron beams causing chemical changes in the food.'


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European Commission reneges on assistance to European herbal practitioners

  'Pressure from European Union (EU) citizens forced a recent meeting between Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and the European Commission (EC) to discuss the impact of the EC’s directive on herbal medicines which will be fully implemented EU-wide as of 1 May 2011. Unfortunately, the meeting, held at the European Parliament on the 29th November 2010, showed how unwilling the EC is to follow through on a pledge it made back in 2008. The pledge was made in the Commission’s report (COM(2008) 584 final) on its first four years of experience with the herbal directive, known as the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive. In the report, the Commission specifically recognised that the directive was not suitable for holistic traditions, such as Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Crucially, it also indicated it would consider the feasibility of an entirely new regulatory framework for such traditions.'


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The Language of Health Tyranny: Decoding the Codex Alimentarius Guidelines For Vitamins and Supplements

'Perhaps the most publicized aspect of Codex Alimentarius is the threat it poses to free access to vitamin and mineral supplements. While there are varying opinions on the effects the Codex guidelines would have on dietary supplements, there is little debate about the fact that these effects would be detrimental. At best, the guidelines will reduce dose levels to minuscule amounts too small to be beneficial, as well as causing the prices to skyrocket for both consumers and producers.

However, a more frightening scenario is possible and, unfortunately, quite likely. When one examines the evidence, it is clear that the effects of the Codex guidelines will do more than just reduce the level of nutrients available in supplements. The truth is that it will actually go so far as to list vitamins, minerals, herbs, and other nutrients as toxins, while at the same time listing dangerous chemicals as nutrients.' 

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Germany Requires Doctor's Prescription for Common Herbs: EU Plans the Same

by Heidi Stevenson

'A common question about the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) is what effect it will actually have. We need only look to Germany to see. Germany accepted and implemented Codex Alimentarius rules back in 2005 and 2006. These are the rules that are now being implemented throughout Europe. The directive associated with herbal medicines is 2004/24/EC (THMPD), set to begin full enforcement at the end of April 2011.'

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ANH-USA Victory! Supplements Are Exempted From Codex Language in Food Safety Bill

Grassroots Activism Can Stop Food Fascism

'The FDA Food Modernization Act (S. 510), also referred to as the “Food Safety” bill, has been modified to exempt dietary supplements from language that otherwise creates a slippery slope toward U.S. harmonization with Codex Alimentarius. ANH-USA worked to protect the natural health community from this dangerous provision that threatened access to high quality, therapeutic supplement doses by working with key senators to modify the language, now for the second time.

The most worrisome provision of the bill initially required the Food and Drug Agency (FDA) to recommend that U.S. foreign trading partners harmonize with Codex. This odd language was no doubt very intentional. How could we recommend harmonization to other countries if we rejected it for the U.S.? So in effect we were committing ourselves to a much more restrictive regulatory regime for supplements.'

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