The page below is a web version of a leaflet by the Consumers for Health Choice. Click here to download the original leaflet in word .doc format.
About CHC
CHC is an independent consumer organisation which has 6,000 members in
the UK, and over 260,000 supporters on its database. It is run by a Board
of Directors who are elected annually. CHC has offices in London and Brussels
and works with similar organisations around Europe.
About the NAHS
The National Association of Health Stores has existed since 1931. We serve
to support, protect and represent the specialist natural health product
retailer, and work closely with CHC in campaigning to preserve our freedom
to choose safe and natural health products.
CHC and the NAHS are now asking for your help to defeat three new threats to consumer choice.
Food Supplements Directive
Europe has passed a new Directive on Food Supplements containing vitamins
and minerals.
This could lead to the banning of many safe and popular nutrients, and
the imposition of unnecessary limits on the potency of many others. The Directive contains a list of nutrients that may be used in food supplements,
but at present, there are 300 safe and popular nutrients on the UK market
that are not included in the list. This alone will affect thousands of
products that will require re-formulation, such as virtually all multi-vitamins.
We believe the setting of maximum limits should be done only on the basis
of safety - if a nutrient is safe there is no reason why consumers should
not be able to buy it.
But the Directive would allow much lower levels to be set, leading to
the loss of a substantial number of safe and effective higher dose supplements.
Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive
Europe has advanced significantly on a directive on herbal products. This
will force herbal remedies into the formal regulatory environment of pharmaceutical
drugs and threatens the continued availability of many herbal remedies
and mixtures of herbs with nutrients.
To get a licence under this Directive, a product would have to have been
on the market for 30 years, (including 15 years in Europe) which means
newly introduced herbal remedies would be banned.
A product that is a mixture of a traditional herb plus vitamins and/or
minerals would also be banned since the mixture is unlikely to have been
on the market for 30 years and the Directive does not provide for them!
Amendments to the Medicines Directive
Europe is also now considering amending the Medicines Directive in such
a way that threatens to bring many food supplements within the regulatory
regime for pharmaceutical drugs, again threatening their continued availability
in the UK.
Details of all these threats are available on our websites:
www.healthchoice.org.uk
and: www.nahs.co.uk
Writing a Letter to Support our Campaigns
We need you to write letters to your MP and MEPs.
To find your UK Member of Parliament (MP) visit: http://locata.co.uk/commons
To find your Members of the European Parliament (MEP) visit: http://www.europarl.eu.int
Or contact your local library or e-mail CHC: enquiries@healthchoice.org.uk
Write to your MP at: The House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA
Write to your MEP at: The European Parliament
Rue Wiertz 0147
Brussels, Belgium
Many MPs and MEPs also have e-mail addresses which are available through the links above, but there is nothing like a traditional hand-written letter to convince them that you were prepared to go to some time and trouble to write to them! In the UK, we all have several MEPs elected to represent each Region. You can write to them all if you wish, or just pick one from the list.
What do I say in my letter?
Your letter does not need to be long or complicated. Please consider making
the following points in your letter to your MP and your MEP, but above
all, please be polite!
Ø make sure you give your name, postal address and email address, if available
Ø explain why you value your freedom to choose dietary supplements and/or herbal remedies
Ø point out that UK law already requires that food supplements and natural remedies have to be as safe as food, and also appropriately labelled
Ø state that you are supporting the CHC and NAHS campaign to protect the right of consumers to have continued access to a wide range of natural health products
Ø request that your MP and MEPs
¨ oppose the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products
Directive which threatens many longstanding herbal remedies;
¨ oppose the proposed amendments to the Medicines Directive which
threaten to reclassify food supplements as medicines requiring an expensive
licence; and
¨ oppose the introduction into UK law of the Food Supplements Directive
which would lead to a ban on many hundreds of safe nutrients and unacceptable
limits on the potency of many more.
Ø thank your MP/MEP for their support and request that they take up your concerns with the relevant authorities.
Please write today, and ask your friends to do the same!
We need your support
Running campaigns in the United Kingdom and Europe at the same time is
very difficult and requires substantial resources.
If you value your right to choose safe, higher dose health supplements, please support Consumers for Health Choice.
Please consider making a donation. Cheques may be made payable to "Consumers for Health Choice".
Or better still, perhaps you could afford to contribute a small amount each month? If so, do please consider completing the Standing Order form on the back of this leaflet and sending it to your bank.
Consumers for Health Choice
9 Old Queen Street
London SW1H 9JA
Fax: 020 7222 4192
Email: enquiries@healthchoice.org.uk
When you buy natural health products, please ask your local retailer to
support
CHC and the NAHS.
CHC - defending your right to choose!
Standing Order Instructions
Please complete all * boxes below and forward to your bank
Beneficiary's Details:
To: HSBC
Westminster Branch
22 Victoria Street
London SW1H 0NJ
Sort Code: 40-02-06
Account Number: 01192388
Account Name: Consumers for Health Choice Ltd
*Your Name/Company:
*Your Bank:
*Branch:
*Sort Code:
*Account Number:
*Amount: £
*Date of first payment:
*Date of Final payment
or Until Further Notice (UFN):
*Due date and frequency
of payments (eg monthly):
*Signature:
*Date:
CONSUMERS FOR HEALTH CHOICE
WARNING:
IT'S HAPPENING NOW!
All consumers, young and old, will lose their freedom to purchase safe,
higher dose supplements and herbal remedies of their choice.
