Belgium to Ban Fluoride Tablets, Chewing Gum

Belgium will ban the sale of tablets and chewing gum which contain fluoride elements because of the risk that they might cause a brittle bone condition, a Health Ministry spokesman said Tuesday.

But the ban will not include toothpaste with fluoride, which protects teeth from decay, Tom Ruts said.

The move is believed to be the first such ban in the 15-nation European Union (EU), and may spark renewed debate about the safety of fluoride, which some countries add to public drinking water supplies as a means of improving dental health.

The ban will probably come into force by late August, Ruts said.

Belgian Health Minister Magda Aelvoet also made comments about the plan in the latest issue of Belgium's weekly magazine, Humo.

Aelvoet told the magazine she hoped her EU partners would follow the example. In these cases, a harmonization within the European Union is of course desirable but I can't always wait until the European Union is ready, she was quoted as saying.

We will however communicate our official decision to the other European member states in the hope that they will follow us swiftly, said the minister.

Fluoride supplements -- such as fluoride tablets and fluoride chewing gum -- are promoted by dentists to fight dental caries. They have been sold in Belgium without a doctor's prescription.

The ministry made the decision after the results of a study commissioned by an advisory board found that excessive use of fluoride products could cause fluoride poisoning, damage the nervous system and foster osteoporosis, where bones become weak and fragile, said the spokesman.
http://alertwizard.hoovers.com/display.php?repo=newsedge&ipage=1777445&exp=fluoride
30th July 2002, 10:13 AM BRUSSELS, Jul 30, 2002 (Xinhua via COMTEX)

PHILLIP DAY'S COMMENT: …. Which is of course what researchers and Credence have been saying for years. Belgium can be applauded for taking this first if token step in breaching the dam of wilful ignorance and stupidity in regard to fluoride compounds. But where is the intellectual consistency, pray, in banning the tablets and not the highly dangerous industrial toxin wastes, labelled 'fluoride', routinely disposed of in the public water supply of many countries with its bubble-gum 'it's for your teeth' mantra chanted from the walls of every dental waiting room? All power to the elbow of CTM's fellow anti-fluoride activist organisations for their excellent work and future victory to rid the public of this menace.