Dr. Mercola's Comments: Educating readers and patients via my twice weekly newsletter -- so you can take control of your own health by providing comprehensive, clear and researched guidance on the best nutrition, medical, emotional therapy and lifestyle choices to improve and maintain your total health -- is important to me as it is a necessary element that is required to change our fatally flawed health care paradigm. Even though I generally believe people take too many supplements in place of eating the healthiest foods, some are necessary. That said, for one to take responsibility for his or her own health, I believe Americans must never lose the right to choose and buy supplements. Although I hope Americans will make the right decisions, they should never lose the right to choose what's best for them, and that includes supplements. Many thanks to Jim Turner for his help, as he has crafted the first of a series of informative pieces I'll be featuring on my Web site leading up to the Codex meeting in July that may decide the supplement issue for many more people besides Europeans. By Jim Turner The 28th meeting of The Codex Alimentarius Commission in Rome July 4-9 will consider adopting vitamin and mineral guidelines based on regulatory principles that, while not immediately limiting the access to dietary supplements of consumers in the United States, could significantly restrict access to vitamin and mineral supplements worldwide. Consumers should act to urge adoption of U.S. law as the international standard. Committees of the Codex Commission other than the Committee on Nutrition and Foods For Special Dietary Uses, the committee that recommended the vitamin and mineral guidelines to the commission, routinely consider matters relating to food trade that raise serious questions of consumer safety and health such as the following: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) Irradiation Antibiotics, hormones and pesticide residues in food rBGH growth hormone in dairy cows Of these serious issues, only the vitamin and mineral guidelines are being considered by the commission at its annual meeting in July. The other issues are in various stages of development. How Codex Changes the Landscape For Supplements This summer, the commission will meet to approve vitamin and mineral guidelines that were finalized by the Codex nutrition committee in Bonn, Germany last November. If the committee moves forward and approves these guidelines, Codex will restrict access to vitamins and minerals in five ways: Setting upper safe limits (maximum potencies) for each vitamin and mineral based on scientific risk assessment. Marginalizing the nutrient supplement possibilities for the nearly 1 billion people worldwide, who, by international standards, go hungry. (Also, the population-based Codex standards under-appreciate the nutritional status of the remaining 4.6 billion people, a majority of whom lack the recommended amount of one or more essential nutrient.) Creating, through setting maximum vitamin and mineral consumption limits, an approach to regulating dietary supplements, which is consistent with and leading the way toward, if not itself directly establishing, prior restraint. Narrowing the amount of nutrition and health information about vitamins and minerals consumers will be allowed to receive, asserting that only drugs can contain label claims for products that are suitable for the prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of disease, disorder or particular physiological conditions. Fostering the worldwide health assumption that sufficient levels of nutrients can be found in a regular diet. The Key Points Natural health consumers must remain active and organized to protect and expand their health rights. Worldwide health could be undermined by the limits to nutrients available in many countries created by Codex guidelines. Codex, by itself, will not change U.S. laws. Codex's upper potency limits, established for vitamins and minerals, will not restrict U.S. consumer access to high-potency vitamins and minerals, although U.S. companies may choose to dumb down their potencies to mirror their international formulations. U.S. lawmakers who oppose consumer access to dietary supplements are likely to seize on these guidelines in an attempt to change federal law. Outside this country, however, the Codex guidelines may create more access to vitamins and minerals in some countries while restricting it in others. Codex misapplies a toxic chemicals risk assessment model to regulate helpful nutrients. Vitamin and mineral guidelines should evaluate nutrients with nutritional science rather than with the toxicological science used to evaluate toxins. Codex fails in this fundamental requirement by erroneously applying toxic chemical risk assessment principles, such as Nutrients should be treated as toxins. Foods and nutrients are not useful in treating disease. Supplements have little value because people can get the limited amounts they need from food. Known reference values are more important than unique individual nutrient needs. Western science is preferred to individual choice as the best control on access to dietary supplements. Codex reinforces, in its vitamin and mineral guidelines, its existing prohibition on preventing truthful information about the ability of foods and nutrients to treat, diagnose, prevent, mitigate and cure disease. World hunger experts recognize nutrient supplementation can be extraordinarily useful in improving world health and eliminating disease (vitamin A supplements in developing countries can offer 30 times as much social improvement as $1 of development aid), a fact Codex vitamin and mineral guidelines ignore. Codex is not, and should not be confused with the European Food Supplement Directive. The European Food Supplement Directive, currently under legal attack in the European Union (EU), if it is likely upheld, will strictly limit European access to many dietary supplements. This law governs European markets and is not part of Codex, though Codex and the EU directive are derived from the same basic toxic chemical risk assessment principles. Codex's vitamin and mineral guideline should be replaced by the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) standard as the international standard for vitamin, minerals and all other dietary supplements. The DSHEA, passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress in 1994, recognizes and protects the value of individuals making personal nutritional and health choices in a way that is rejected by the Codex guidelines It is the culmination of 50 years of legislation and litigation that has refined the supplement policy of the United States ensuring that individual choice and need play a key role in ensuring private and public health. The Codex guideline subordinates individual choice to professional expertise. The DSHEA balances professionals and people. Public Action Codex information can be received from and sent to U.S. Codex Commission delegate, Dr. F. Edward Scarbrough. Citizens for Health (CFH) is also preparing comments and email campaign to be sent to the delegate. CFH updates on Codex and campaign activities can be found at the Citizens For Health Web site and will be posted on the Weston A. Price Foundation's Web site. For more details about Codex, visit the U.S. Codex office's official Web site or e-mail them. Jim Turner serves as general counsel to the Weston A. Price Foundation. Related Articles: Three Steps and 11 Months to Diffuse the Ticking Time Bomb Threatening Your Access to Vitamins and Minerals
Educating readers and patients via my twice weekly newsletter -- so you can take control of your own health by providing comprehensive, clear and researched guidance on the best nutrition, medical, emotional therapy and lifestyle choices to improve and maintain your total health -- is important to me as it is a necessary element that is required to change our fatally flawed health care paradigm.
Even though I generally believe people take too many supplements in place of eating the healthiest foods, some are necessary. That said, for one to take responsibility for his or her own health, I believe Americans must never lose the right to choose and buy supplements. Although I hope Americans will make the right decisions, they should never lose the right to choose what's best for them, and that includes supplements.
Many thanks to Jim Turner for his help, as he has crafted the first of a series of informative pieces I'll be featuring on my Web site leading up to the Codex meeting in July that may decide the supplement issue for many more people besides Europeans.
By Jim Turner
The 28th meeting of The Codex Alimentarius Commission in Rome July 4-9 will consider adopting vitamin and mineral guidelines based on regulatory principles that, while not immediately limiting the access to dietary supplements of consumers in the United States, could significantly restrict access to vitamin and mineral supplements worldwide. Consumers should act to urge adoption of U.S. law as the international standard.
Committees of the Codex Commission other than the Committee on Nutrition and Foods For Special Dietary Uses, the committee that recommended the vitamin and mineral guidelines to the commission, routinely consider matters relating to food trade that raise serious questions of consumer safety and health such as the following:
Of these serious issues, only the vitamin and mineral guidelines are being considered by the commission at its annual meeting in July. The other issues are in various stages of development.
How Codex Changes the Landscape For Supplements
This summer, the commission will meet to approve vitamin and mineral guidelines that were finalized by the Codex nutrition committee in Bonn, Germany last November. If the committee moves forward and approves these guidelines, Codex will restrict access to vitamins and minerals in five ways:
Setting upper safe limits (maximum potencies) for each vitamin and mineral based on scientific risk assessment.
Marginalizing the nutrient supplement possibilities for the nearly 1 billion people worldwide, who, by international standards, go hungry. (Also, the population-based Codex standards under-appreciate the nutritional status of the remaining 4.6 billion people, a majority of whom lack the recommended amount of one or more essential nutrient.)
Creating, through setting maximum vitamin and mineral consumption limits, an approach to regulating dietary supplements, which is consistent with and leading the way toward, if not itself directly establishing, prior restraint.
Narrowing the amount of nutrition and health information about vitamins and minerals consumers will be allowed to receive, asserting that only drugs can contain label claims for products that are suitable for the prevention, alleviation, treatment or cure of disease, disorder or particular physiological conditions.
Fostering the worldwide health assumption that sufficient levels of nutrients can be found in a regular diet.
The Key Points
Natural health consumers must remain active and organized to protect and expand their health rights. Worldwide health could be undermined by the limits to nutrients available in many countries created by Codex guidelines.
Codex, by itself, will not change U.S. laws. Codex's upper potency limits, established for vitamins and minerals, will not restrict U.S. consumer access to high-potency vitamins and minerals, although U.S. companies may choose to dumb down their potencies to mirror their international formulations.
U.S. lawmakers who oppose consumer access to dietary supplements are likely to seize on these guidelines in an attempt to change federal law. Outside this country, however, the Codex guidelines may create more access to vitamins and minerals in some countries while restricting it in others.
Codex misapplies a toxic chemicals risk assessment model to regulate helpful nutrients. Vitamin and mineral guidelines should evaluate nutrients with nutritional science rather than with the toxicological science used to evaluate toxins. Codex fails in this fundamental requirement by erroneously applying toxic chemical risk assessment principles, such as
Nutrients should be treated as toxins.
Foods and nutrients are not useful in treating disease.
Supplements have little value because people can get the limited amounts they need from food.
Known reference values are more important than unique individual nutrient needs.
Western science is preferred to individual choice as the best control on access to dietary supplements.
Codex reinforces, in its vitamin and mineral guidelines, its existing prohibition on preventing truthful information about the ability of foods and nutrients to treat, diagnose, prevent, mitigate and cure disease. World hunger experts recognize nutrient supplementation can be extraordinarily useful in improving world health and eliminating disease (vitamin A supplements in developing countries can offer 30 times as much social improvement as $1 of development aid), a fact Codex vitamin and mineral guidelines ignore.
Codex is not, and should not be confused with the European Food Supplement Directive. The European Food Supplement Directive, currently under legal attack in the European Union (EU), if it is likely upheld, will strictly limit European access to many dietary supplements. This law governs European markets and is not part of Codex, though Codex and the EU directive are derived from the same basic toxic chemical risk assessment principles.
Codex's vitamin and mineral guideline should be replaced by the U.S. Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) standard as the international standard for vitamin, minerals and all other dietary supplements. The DSHEA, passed unanimously by the U.S. Congress in 1994, recognizes and protects the value of individuals making personal nutritional and health choices in a way that is rejected by the Codex guidelines
It is the culmination of 50 years of legislation and litigation that has refined the supplement policy of the United States ensuring that individual choice and need play a key role in ensuring private and public health. The Codex guideline subordinates individual choice to professional expertise. The DSHEA balances professionals and people.
Public Action
Codex information can be received from and sent to U.S. Codex Commission delegate, Dr. F. Edward Scarbrough. Citizens for Health (CFH) is also preparing comments and email campaign to be sent to the delegate. CFH updates on Codex and campaign activities can be found at the Citizens For Health Web site and will be posted on the Weston A. Price Foundation's Web site.
For more details about Codex, visit the U.S. Codex office's official Web site or e-mail them.
Jim Turner serves as general counsel to the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Related Articles:
Three Steps and 11 Months to Diffuse the Ticking Time Bomb Threatening Your Access to Vitamins and Minerals
There are so many issues and situations where we - the general public - are bveing minipulated to buy synthetic products, that have little value and are actually dangerous. This is basically Corporate Greed and the Codex protocol is an example. This is reflected in the food we buy or grow, and it is criminal the companies like Monsanto are allowed to exist. Personally, I would ban them, like I would Cigarette Companies; all the do is produce are poisons the are legalized by Inept Politicians, Bureaucrats, and slimy Lobbyist. Viva the era of Minimum Government; there needs to be another American Revolution to topple all Greed.
Thank You,
Our Nutrition comes from good healthly grown food from good soil. Our European countries found from the wars of WW! and up until WW2 that their soils needed rotation and enrichment. The USA came to the aid of Germany and France, along with Italy with the Marshall plan. But the USA gained some insight and use by starting to rotate soil in order that ourUSA Vegtables and Fruits to have nutrition. Also Germany began the fortification of Wheat and other foods to bring them nutrition to people. The Germans created vitamins from the raw material of good Vegtables.All have came to America with the total disgust of the Pharmacuetical and Medical associtation as the results were showing on good health. Because of the DSHEA act passed in America, The big Pharma people bought Vitiamin makers and Pharma overseas to surround America with the CODEX Plan. Lets Kill the plan.
Go to www.NaturalSolutionsFoundation.org. Watch Dr. Rima Laibow's videos. She calls it Death by Nutricide. This bill is designed to make this a sick nation. Nutrition will be made illegal. Cancer and other diseases will run rampant, because our immune systems will be non functional. We will not be able to fight diseases and keep healthy. This bill has to be stoppped.
I have been following the CODEX mess with the National Health Federation, one of the recognised agencys trying to fight it. They have been all but ignored and the American people will be victims of this farce. We fought wars for our freedom and the Germans could not win those so now they will use stealth to overcom us. The World Trade Comission and European Union leaders want to force their guidelines down our throats. I can't help but believe the big pharma companies are in there callling some of the shots. I keep myself going with supplements and I know without them I would be dead by now. (I have HHT) I pray that somehow this terrible system will not affect our DSHEAAct approved by some very smart congress and senate stars.
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Disclaimer: The entire contents of this website are based upon the opinions of Dr. Mercola, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author, who retains copyright as marked. The information on this website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Dr. Mercola and his community. Dr. Mercola encourages you to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.
