Originally published July 21 2005
Vitamin sales restrictions remain in place in European Union
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The European Court of Justice ruled to maintain the European Commission's Food Supplements Directive, a directive adopted in 2002 that restricts the sale of vitamins and minerals in the European Union and creates an "approved list" of vitamins and minerals that some British organizations, like the Health Food Manufacturers' Association, argue is too restrictive.
Major restrictions on the sale of vitamins and minerals throughout the EU, including Ireland, are to go ahead, following a ruling by the European Court of Justice.
The ruling upheld the validity of the European Commission's Food Supplements Directive, which was originally adopted in June 2002.
According to the Commission, the main aim of this directive was to enable food supplements 'to be marketed freely across the EU while ensuring the safety of consumers'.
A number of groups in Britain, including the Health Food Manufacturers' Association, attempted to stop the directive, arguing that it was too restrictive.
Welcoming the court's ruling, EU Health Commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, insisted that the directive was designed to 'open the internal market and boost growth, while ensuring a high level of protection of public health'.
"With these dual goals in mind, we will look at the implementation of the directive to ensure that it is implemented in a transparent and timely manner and is the least restrictive that science will allow", Mr Kyprianou added.
However the Green Party has said it is disappointed with the ruling, insisting that it is 'less about consumer safety and more about commercialisation and harmonisation'.
Consumers who purchase vitamins are making a conscious choice, whereas much of the food in our supermarkets contains unnecessary, undesirable chemicals, such as hydrogenated vegetable oil and artificial sweeteners", said Green Party TD, Paul Gogarty.
Today's ruling will have an impact on the general public, who will be restricted in their use of alternative or holistic remedies and will also have an effect on trade, as health food stores and natural health practitioners will be restricted in what they can sell and recommend", Ms Doyle said.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml