Campaigns

2001

European Legislation Regarding Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

This spectre has been looming large for some time and is now becoming one of the most divisive subjects ever to concern the Health Food Industry.The food supplement (Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs and others) market in this country has seen an explosion in the last ten years, to the extent that where ten years ago it was a small niche market of a few enlightened Health Food Shops, today 80% of supplements are sold in supermarkets, although most are low dose and overpriced.

Supplements are big business, and natural medicine is establishing itself as a viable alternative to so-called conventional medicine and drugs. This of course represents a threat to the Pharmaceutical companies and the sale of their drugs. The drug companies are responding in two ways; (a) try to beat them, but if we can't, then (b) let's join them. To this end they are waging a dirty tricks campaign via newspapers and suchlike to try and discredit natural medicine, but at the same time they are buying up Vitamin companies together with their expertise. Also there is hardly a week goes by that there is not some over-priced, over-hyped "natural Medicine" appearing on the market, manufactured by a Pharmaceutical Company.

European legislation, masterminded by Brussels, is, of course, always trying to homogenise and harmonise every idiosyncrasy that we hold dear. Natural supplements are no exception. The EU, via Brussels and perhaps fuelled by Pharmaceutical Companies, is desperately trying to undermine the basic freedom of choice that we in this country have always enjoyed; the right to buy, over the counter, high dose but safe and effective Supplements although:

The Health Food Industry has possibly one of the best safety records of any industry in this country.

There are few countries in Europe that enjoy this freedom, and Brussels wants to drag us down to their level, rather than elevating all the others to our enviable position.This is being done via Article 5, a piece of EU legislation that the Belgians want to be accepted only with a compromise, a compromise that will have far reaching effects on the health food industry and on you as consumers.

As informed, knowledgeable and conscientious owners of an Independent Health Food shop, we want to continue to have the right to sell you effective supplements, ones that work. Owning a Health Food Shop is not merely a question of selling you a product, it is also an expression of our ideology and desire to help you. We believe that the position taken by the NAHS and CHC is the only one tenable. We believe that what is good for quality independent Health Food Stores is also good for the consumer, and remember, we don't just sell supplements, we take them.

Current EU legislation, if passed, will make it illegal to sell you certain supplements at a dose that we believe is beneficial.We belong to the National Association of Health Food stores, The NAHS is vehemently fighting this EU legislation along with CHC (Consumers for Health Choice).