Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-03-12-Speech-2-294"
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"en.20020312.12.2-294"2
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"I believe this directive is an unacceptable assault on the right of citizens to choose how they look after their health and well-being. Huge numbers of EU citizens choose to take supplements to reduce the possibility of their falling ill and needing to seek medical advice to obtain prescribed drugs. People should have the right to opt for a healthy approach, rather than waiting for disease to set in and then having to resort to pharmaceutical drugs, many of which have dangerous side effects.
I am not surprised that the pharmaceutical industry is supporting this directive, since it plays right into their hands and means more business for them. Products which have been widely and safely used for many years in several EU Member States are being restricted without any health and safety justifications. I believe this is lawnmower harmonisation at its best, where everything is chopped down to the lowest common denominator.
Consumers should be free to choose their own level of potency and nutrients, provided that they are safe and appropriately labelled. Availability of supplements should not be restricted for any reason other than safety. This proposal is profoundly flawed, in that it is based on the old-fashioned research which relies on RDAs of vitamins and minerals. For the past fifty years, RDAs have formed the basis of conventional nutritional wisdom. However, according to many reports which I have read on this issue, RDAs are set far too low and should be revised upwards. Instead, legislators should rely on the upper safe limits, which are a much better device. For example, the RDA for vitamin B6 is just 2 mg while the upper safe limit is 200 mg. Two studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 demonstrated that taking supplements containing 100 IU of vitamin E for at least two years reduced the risk of heart disease in both men and women by approximately 40%. Despite this, the RDA for Vitamin E remains a measly 10 IU.
I believe that countries with a restrictive policy should relax it, but not on the condition that we tighten our system and restrict the access of our consumers in our countries to vitamin and food supplements."@en1
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