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SITUATION RED!!! Can you imagine having to buy vitamins as prescription drugs? Well this nightmare is becoming a reality in Europe. Please pay close attention to how the DOUBLE-SPEAKERS of this fair planet are planning your healthy demise. Could the same thing happen here? DON'T BET YOUR LIFE AGAINST IT!
Health Sciences Institute e-Alert
September 16, 2002
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"Warning on Vitamin Use"
Unfortunately that's not a misprint. Britons are being warned
about the use of supplementary vitamins in what can only be
described as a propaganda campaign designed to create a
negative mindset toward vitamin, mineral and herbal
supplements.
And who's doing the warning? A regulatory office of the
British government called the Food Standards Agency (FSA) -
which is also telling UK citizens that anyone who eats a
healthy, balanced diet doesn't need any supplements at all.
(More on that in a moment.)
And why is FSA sending out this negative message? The answer
to that tells the tale of an economic and ideological battle
with extremely damaging repercussions for dietary supplements
in Europe, England and even the U.S.
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Europe on the ropes
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Imagine our worst nightmare about the FDA coming true. That's
a reasonable description of the current European Union (EU)
plan to seriously limit the dosage and distribution of food
supplements throughout Europe. For millions of health-
conscious citizens in the EU, this nightmare is a reality.
This past April I sent you an e-Alert ("Writing on the Wall"
4/29/02) about the "European Union Directive on Dietary
Supplements" passed in March by the European Parliament (the
legislative body representing the 15 European Union
countries). In that e-Alert I told you about the Directive
timetable which calls for a transition period to review,
revise, and implement the new regulations. In June of 2005,
the following elements of the Directive are expected to
become law:
* Vitamin supplements will be classified as medical drugs and
will be available by prescription only.
* Dosages will be limited to "safe" levels, which in many
cases will be too low to be effective.
* Many supplement ingredients that are currently widely
available will become illegal.
What are the health consequences of these restrictions, and
what does it mean for the future of dietary supplements
worldwide?
I hardly know where to start.
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Invitation to poor health
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First let's look at who we're dealing with.
The EU Directive states: "In order to ensure a high level of
protection for consumers and facilitate their choice, the
products that will be put on the market must be safe and bear
adequate and appropriate labeling."
The first half of that statement is widely recognized as pure
bureaucratic double-speak. Consumer choice will not be
facilitated, it will be severely reduced. And consumer
protection will not be ensured, it will be deliberately
withheld. Consumers currently enjoy a wide range of choice in
their vitamin and herbal supplements. And many consumers rely
on these supplements to help them prevent health problems and
to fight specific diseases. Under the Directive, millions of
European Union citizens will not be allowed to practice
prevention as they wish, so any claim of facilitated choice
and a high level of protection is a transparent deception.
You might wonder why the European Union would want its
citizens to have less access to dietary supplements as a
means to improve their health. For the answer to that, just
follow the money. Without access to prevention, the citizens
of EU countries will inevitably be forced to rely on
prescription drugs. That, of course, will create a boost in
profits for international pharmaceutical companies, some of
whom just happen to have direct links to several influential
European Union commissioners. For instance: one prominent EU
commissioner from the Netherlands is also a member of the
supervisory board of the second largest pharmaceutical
company in the world - Merck, Sharp and Dohme.
The logic and economic motivation behind that "high level"
of "facilitated" double-speak is all too clear.
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Where it is & where it's going
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Meanwhile, back in the UK, things are not looking good. It's
now considered a certainty that when the drastically reduced
list of allowed dietary supplements is enforced, as many as
2,000 or more health supplement stores will be forced to
close. This will have grave consequences on both the health
and economics of UK communities.
And it puts the government of the UK in a bind. On one hand,
many outraged citizens and their representatives in the
British Parliament are doing what they can to petition the
government and the European Union to ease the restrictions of
the Directive. On the other hand, the UK is a member of the
EU and must abide by its laws. So there is clearly a sector
of the government that simply wants to go along with the EU
Directive while ignoring the overwhelming cry against it.
Enter the FSA with what appears to be a campaign designed to
change the public mindset about supplements. In so many
words, the FSA is saying, "What's the big fuss? They're just
vitamins - they don't really do anything, and they're VERY
DANGEROUS at high levels."
The FSA has stated that supplements are pointless for anyone
who eats a healthy, balanced diet. Aside from the widespread
disagreement on what exactly constitutes a proper diet, how
many people do you know who eat anything close to a genuinely
healthy and balanced diet? Dr. Ann Walker, a representative
of the Health Supplements Information Service in the UK, told
BBC News that, "the government's own survey figures
consistently show that the modern diet provides less than
target levels of folic acid, iron, calcium, magnesium, zinc,
selenium and B vitamins."
Today, anyone in the UK who wishes to supplement their modern
diet with these necessary nutrients can easily do so. But in
a few short years all that will change.
There are many more issues to address on this topic. In
tomorrow's e-Alert I'll tell you how the EU Directive may
impact in very negative ways on the future of supplement
availability in the U.S., give you specifics about the status
of certain supplements within the Directive, and let you know
what action you can take to lend your voice to the huge
public outcry against these irresponsible restrictions.
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