well, I’m feeling a bit more optimistic. Certain things seem to be happening politically behind the scenes. watch this space.

I feel very alone and despairing. The government seem to be ignoring the fact that our supplements will soon be gone forever and that about 700 shops and 3000 people will be out of work (and at such a dreadful time). If you do log in to this website - please write a comment and pass the web address on to other people. I need to know that I’m not alone in this fight! thanks for caring.

Have you sent your postcard to your MP?

The EU bureaucrats in Brussels have finally shown their colours!  Last week
they told the leaders of the UK dietary supplements that the destruction of
the British market is an acceptable price to pay for harmonizing trade
across all member States.  They even said the UK supplements industry is
worse than the tobacco and alcohol industry - because those industries are
prepared to discuss possible compromises whereas the supplements people
just want this ludicrous directive thrown out!

I can tell you - all sides of the industry has been galvanised into fast
and furious actions.

A couple of comments I’ve heard recently is that you are all too busy to
bother with this campaign with everything else that is going on - well, I
must disagree - this campaign IS worth bothering about; it is vital.  It
will only take a few moments, but those moments are vital.  If any of us
relax now, this pernicious directive will potentially destroy the
supplements industry.  And Brussels won’t care.  So where will that leave
you?  Where will you get your vitamin C, your zinc and selenium in doses
that are effective?  There is no quick answer, especially as UK officials
seems to think they can easily block any “illegal” supplements coming in
from overseas.

Keep on remembering that the bureaucrats in Brussels are from a different
planet.  They care nothing for you’re the health needs of consumers.  They
are dismissive about the industry and numbers of jobs that will be lost -
and they certainly don’t give a fig if the industry is brought to its knees
to satisfy the EU desire for that single market.  That thought should keep
you focussed and I’m sure you can convey a powerful message to your MP.

Go to your nearest health food shop and pick up the bright blue
‘SEND-A-MESSAGE’ postcard.
Just complete a couple of line, add the name of you own local MP - plus a
stamp - and post it!!

Simple, but very effective.

Just another thought.

A few months ago, Consumers for Health Choice took a full page in The Guardian newspaper. It was an open letter to The Rt Hon. Gordon Brown, on the subject of the EU Directive and our supplements being under threat. It asked for his governments help in fighting for us- the consumer -to keep our valuable supplements, that we have been taking safely for many years and was signed by at least 25 celebrities.

I was stunned to find that shortly after it had appeared, at least half of them were sent, personally, a very persuasive letter from the which?organisation, warning them that supporting the CHC was dangerous and that they should support the EU Directive and explaining why. Astonishingly , however, some of their science was inaccurate and consequently some of their arguments were wrong and misleading.

I was shocked as I had always been led to believe that the which?organisation was on the side of the consumer. How can restricting consumer choice,  on the basis of flawed science, be good for us? (We know that safety is not the issue although they would have us think it is; it is the ultimate harmonisation of the  supplements market)  Who is advising them, that they got their facts so wrong?

When CHC wrote to the which? organisation regarding the letters they had sent out and challenging their facts, no answer came, which was equally puzzling. So I asked a few questions and found out that most people who subscribe to or advise which? have vested interests, and that there were an awful lot of GPs on their list. Now, GPs know very little, generally, about good nutrition and even less about supplements, and are often funded or influenced in some way or another by the Pharmas.

Just a few thoughts for you to dwell on.

Have you ever wondered why some vitamin supplements, especially the “tasty” chewy ones contain aspartame???? I thought supplements were supposed to be good for you. Google aspartame and make up your own mind….

Those will probably be the ones left on the market when the EU’s directive comes into force….

I’m hoping that little by little people are coming to this site, reading its contents and taking action. So many people don’t know what’s going on. I’d love some comments and ideas, if anyone feels up to it. also. pass the link on to anyone you know in the USA and in the EU. They can all make a difference.

I am determined that if we make enough “noise” we will be heard, and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to affect how the directives are written and keep our supplements. One can only hope! and do of course! thanks.

If you live in Scotland, you will have seen the BBC news last week reporting a new scientific study suggesting “Scotland’s poor health record could be directly linked to a lack of sunshine.”  Dr Oliver Gillie linked the ‘extreme’ weather to Vitamin D deficiency, which is caused by low exposure to sunlight.        

Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that is found in very small quantities in foods of animal origin and is commonly known as the ‘Sunshine’ vitamin.  It can be produced in the skin from the energy of the sun – but not if you keep covered up!  We are talking about Scotland here, but the same deficiency is found in people in very hot climates where their religious beliefs require them to keep their skin covered.

Scotland, especially the countryside, is astonishingly beautiful.  But it does have an extreme climate characterised by very little sunshine.  In fact, Scotland gets as little sunshine as the Arctic Circle.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Harry Burns, announced that he was already considering the evidence on Vitamin D, aware that medics have already established a lack of the Vitamin as a factor in conditions like heart disease and some cancers – of which Scotland has some of the highest levels in Europe.  But now this new evidence suggests it’s not poor diet, not even the Forfar Bridies, the Stovied Tatties or the deep fried Mars bars – it’s the weather!

That’s what I call a really good case for supplementation!  I wonder how it will develop. 

I also heard recently that Rickets was now being diagnosed in children in Britain – mainly in Asian families not born in the UK.  Again, this is an example of Vitamin D deficiency.  It seems that the amount of Vitamin D needed by children to prevent bone deformities such as Rickets can be made fairly easily by the sun on the cheeks of European infants.  However, it is well documented that darker skin is not as efficient in making Vitamins D, and in the winter, producti0on falls considerably. 

That must be a further case for supplementation.  It seems the only secure way to ensure adequate Vitamin D intake in children in Scotland is to give them a daily supplement.

But at least Scotland is now taking that on board.  Up to now, Vitamin D has received little or no attention from policy makers – yet they have some of the highest levels of chronic illness in the world.  Dr Gillie has challenged Ministers to introduce measures which would help Scotland catch up with other European countries which enjoy a more favourable climate.  Dr Gillie believes the problem can be solved – provided there is the political will to do so.

The final word comes from the CMO – “if Vitamin D supplements can be shown to contribute to improved health in Scotland, then we will make the appropriate recommendations.”

www.consumersforhealthchoice.com

I’m anxious! Verging on depressed.

I depend on supplements to keep well and busy. I don’t take them every day but I do listen to my body and being a busy veggie  I know when I am skimping on certain nutrients. So they nestle in my cupboard like a sort of warm duvet. I know they are there if I need them.

Some of them are well sourced general supplements and some are specific and only necessary for special occasions. But they all have a place in my wellness and my life.

Now I find that if this EU Directive goes through, I won’t be able to buy most of them in the UK. I’ll have to get them from overseas on the Internet. This scares me as I don’t know what I’m buying, and I don’t think there’s proper quality control.

It’s also going to cost me a lot more.

And then I find that other things that I rely on are under scrutiny, or might be in the future – like herbal remedies and flower essences and …. Well the list goes on.

And then I find that if something called Codex has its way, I won’t even be able to buy things on the Internet. They will all be taken off the markets everywhere.

What’s going on? It’ll be like being in the Dark Ages.

Why isn’t everyone, all over the world, up in arms about this?  Help!!!!!!

By my reckoning a food scare story hit the papers every other day; the latest is about eating sausages or bacon for breakfast.  One sausage or three rashers of bacon a day can cause bowel cancer screams the headlines – at the same time they warn against eating salami, pastrami, ham, hamburgers and minced beef.  It’s the preserving process of smoking, curing, salting or adding nitros compounds that does the damage we are told – while they round up the article by stating that organic vegetables provide no health benefits over standard produce.  The world really is mad.

A quick rummage through my box of press cuttings reveals some interesting statistics when it comes to scares – top of the league is alcohol with 18 different cases reported since 2005.  Next in line is VITAMINS – closely followed by red meat, fish and sugary drinks.  Further down the list, but still in the top 20 food scares comes cheese, bottled water, bread, coffee, eggs, cooked meats – but only one on peanuts which are known to be life threatening for some.

Alcohol is a given; we all know how damaging that can be.  But vitamins?  Mind you, the media seems unable to make up its mind on this  - “Young people in Britain risk suffering health problems due to a chronic lack of vitamins in their diet, according to a study commissioned by Boots Health Club.  Millions of young people are thought to be ‘vita-rexic’ a term coined to refer to vitamin deficiency”.  That was published in the Daily Mail and carried by several of the other national dailies and could be considered a positive message for supplements.  On another occasion, also widely reported was a study on Vitamin D.   “Older men and women with vitamin D deficiency are more likely to fall multiple times . . . . “  Again, this sent a positive message, but others have been extremely damaging to the health supplements industry – yet almost all reports quote Scientists as saying ‘the study is far from conclusive and more research is required’.  I’d like to know why they don’t complete their work before drip feeding and misleading the media with bogus stories. 

How about this one – “Scientists have issued a major health warning over vitamins tablets today.  They warned that taking some supplements regularly can lead to liver damage and birth defects.”  Such stories are not unusual and tend to be orchestrated around the time we approach different stages of the Food Supplements legislation.   A cynical view maybe, but it does make you wonder.

On the other hand, I think it was The Times who ran a story a couple of years ago about the ‘practice of disease mongering by the drugs industry.’  It was suggested in the article that pharmaceutical companies were promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones, for the sake of profits. 

I’m sure we are all suffering from warning fatigue, but on a lighter note, other scares that have hit the headlines include; “Being a Londoner – Living in London prematurely ages your skin by three-and-a-half years”. 

“Being Male – scientists are saying that simply being male is like having a ‘terminal disease’. Experts say the higher risk of various illnesses and premature causes of death that men face compared with women makes being male a health hazard in itself!” 

“Sunday Roasts – beef packed with hormones could be to blame for fertility problems in a generation of young men, researchers say.” 

“Alarm Clocks – could be bad for your health.  Participants who were suddenly forced awake by alarm clocks had higher blood pressure and heart rates than those allowed to wake up in their own time.”  Not rocket science is it?  Finally, “Unemployment – being unemployed is as dangerous as smoking 400 cigarettes a day, because working makes us happy!”  I give up.

Many would argue that our life is the safest it has ever been in the entire history of evolution.  It is certainly true that in most cases there is less disease, we are better fed and better protected – and we have confidence in ourselves.  It’s just a shame that parts of the media feel compelled to exaggerate fanciful fears to compensate for lack of real danger.

Sue Croft ~ Director, Consumers for Health Choice

www.consumersforhealthchoice.com