Brussels Will No Longer Contain Vitamins

The European Union are to order health shops to stop selling hundreds of brands of vitamins under their new laws.

More than 350 supplements contain ingredients such as, boron, vanadium and sulphur, which are soon to be excluded from the approval list of the EU. The legislation will eventually be phased in and by 2005 all manufacturers will be expected to comply.

Vitamin pills will not be allowed to exceed any ingredient that exceeds the 'recommended daily amount' and anything more powerful will be reclassified as a drug.

The director of the National Association of Health Stores, Ralph Pike, said 'This legislation looks after big business and has nothing to do with consumer safety. It means some health stores will go bust.' The vitamin market is worth an estimated £440 million.

A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) also added, 'These are not dangerous pharmaceutical drugs - they are food supplements which people use to supplement deficiencies in their diet. This is a sledgehammer to crack a nut.' He feels that people should be free to exercise their own will with regards to their nutritional habits.

However, the European Commission said the majority of the food supplement industry and consumer organisations supported them in their decision.

Best to stock up now if you rely on vitamin C to ward off colds…

Friday, 24 May 2002