You have a fundamental right to the information that will help you to understand what you are eating and drinking; to give you the ability to make informed choices; and ultimately, to have control over your own health and wellbeing.
Don’t let the EU take this away from you.
Join the fight against the implementation of the- Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation - which aims to clampdown on natural remedies by restricting information communicating the benefits to your health and wellbeing of food and natural health products.
The latest victory for alternative medicine came when Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) recently raised an official objection to the 220-strong list of health claims relating to natural health and food products – which fall under the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation – currently making its way through the European Parliament.
There are major concerns about the future of nutritional supplements and herbal remedies, as so far a whopping 2,500 health claims have been rejected. As Dr. Robert Verkerk, ANH-Intl Executive & Scientific Director, points out: "It's crucial to recognise that most of the rejected health claims actually have plenty of scientific and clinical evidence backing them up. It's just not the very specific type of evidence that EFSA is demanding. Unfortunately, the EFSA demands multiple clinical trials, in healthy human subjects, before it will approve health claims. Only the largest corporations can afford the cost, and because consumers will be drawn to products with authorised claims, these will be seen largely on processed offerings from Big Food that are often inferior to those products produced by specialist health food manufacturers. The proposed regime will leave a lot of the healthiest foods and food ingredients without claims, which will be a great disservice to the public and to disease prevention through dietary means. We must let MEPs know that the public doesn't want the health claims list to become law."
As we enter stage two of the campaign to stop the list from becoming law, now's a good time to have a quick recap of where things currently stand regarding the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation:
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has so far been enforcing a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to all vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbal remedies... all under the guise of 'consumer protection'. As a result, only a smidgen of claims for natural remedies and foods have so far been approved by the EFSA, including the 'natural statin', red yeast rice, with a claim for maintenance of normal blood cholesterol; beta glucans from oats and barley for boosting immunity; polyphenols in olive oil for protecting blood lipids from oxidative stress; and walnuts for improving the elasticity of blood vessels.
However, of the 44,000 health claims that were submitted, only 224 (these are limited to just 70 foods or food ingredients) were approved and appear on the draft list. This excludes many botanical substances and probiotics. However, after a massive industry backlash, when around 1,500 claims for botanicals and probiotics were largely rejected, public pressure forced the EFSA to re-evaluate these claims.
Try to encourage everyone, over the age of 18 who lives within the EU, to write to their MEP and ask him or her to support blocking the passage of the Article 13.1 health claims list into European law.
So far response has been immense and MEPS have listened to our arguments against these draconian laws and are finally taking action. This means the ANH can now move to the next level in their campaign to stop the EU clampdown on vitamins and supplements.
The truth is the objection from MEPs is a small victory and there is still a long and hard battle ahead of us. One of our biggest stumbling blocks is the fact that the real motivation behind the EU's so-called 'consumer protection' laws is to create a harmonised EU-wide regime that will only benefit the biggest players: Big Food and Big Pharma.
If these 'consumer protection' laws are passed many of the healthiest foods and food ingredients won't pass the EFSA approval process. This will prevent manufacturers from making any health claims regarding the health protective benefits of these foods and ingredients, which will not only be a great disservice to the public, but will also, hinder disease prevention through eating a healthy and balanced diet.
This is why you’re on-going support is of paramount importance. Without the ANH and their front man, Dr. Verkerk, we do not stand a chance for these laws to be vetoed.
Just 6 weeks
To ensure that alternative medicine wins the next round of the fight; we need to reach as many European citizens as possible, across all 27 EU Member States, and urge them to write to their MEPs.
By forwarding this email to everyone you know in the EU, the MEP letter-writing campaign can go viral in the coming 6 weeks: Just before the final vote against, or in favour of, these laws will be held in the European Parliament.
It's your duty to do what you can to get these laws vetoed once and for all
If you haven't done so already, follow this link to find out more about the MEP letter writing campaign and please forward this email to everyone you know living in the EU. It will only take 20 minutes to make a big difference and future generations will thank you for it.
AK Smith is a freelance writer and author.
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