J
John
Guest
"IAHF LIST: Today in London I witnessed a historic victory over the Pharma Cartel, and would like to
thank those of you who so generously donated to ANH's legal campaign. "
"We still have some way to go to pay legal bills to date, so please continue to give whatever you
can to pay the best legal team in Europe which was there for you today and are still owed fees.
Donations can be made via http://www.alliance-natural-health.org "
-----Original Message----- From: IAHF.COM [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004
12:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
IAHF WEBMASTER: Breaking News, Whats New, All Countries, What to Do
IAHF LIST: Today in London I witnessed a historic victory over the Pharma Cartel, and would like to
thank those of you who so generously donated to ANH's legal campaign.
We can now apply for interim relief to stop the directive, pending the hearing we will now be
getting in the European Court of Justice at a later, as yet undetermined date.
ANH's attorney Conor Quigley QC delivered a flawless argument to which we could see the Judge
nodding his assent, which gave us all a real feeling of hope going into the lunch break. The real
hub of the case was the recognition that the directive produced by the European Commission went
much further than it needed to to achieve what it set out to do, which was harmonize products
across Europe.
(In other words, the ban of around 5000 products containing vitamins and minerals in the UK alone,
could well be illegal- not to mention the blockade on products being exported from the United
States.) What ANH now will be doing is proving in the EU Court of Justice that the Directive is
invalid because its illegally brought in the bans on the back of a harmonizing directive.
The result if ANH wins at the next stage will be that any country in the EU can continue using
products that go beyond the restrictions imposed by the positive list. So places like the UK,
Holland, Sweden and Ireland can remain safe havens for innovative products.
The fascinating thing is that people in Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, all of which have
highly restrictive regimes, are now getting behind ANH because they value access to innovative
products and nutritional therapies.
We may have had a victory today, but this is the beginning of a long road, and its going to be won
by consumers around the world taking control of these issues by getting behind such organizations as
IAHF, ANH, Mayday, La Leva di Archimede, National Health Federation, and others which are untainted
by Pharma Influence.
We still have some way to go to pay legal bills to date, so please continue to give whatever you can
to pay the best legal team in Europe which was there for you today and are still owed fees.
Donations can be made via http://www.alliance-natural-health.org
See press release below- I'll be in the UK for another few days, and will provide additional
information shortly, including photos which I'll be uploading to the IAHF website.
John Hammell, reporting live from the UK
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
The landmark cases brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and two UK industry Associations have
been successful both in getting permission for Judicial Review and obtaining a reference to the
European Court of Justice in their challenge to the legality of the Food Supplements Directive ban
on nutrients.
Mr Justice Richards today gave judgment and emphasised that the reference to the European Court
should be made without delay.
This is a test case on the proper scope of the legislative powers of the Community Legislator
over member states and has far reaching implications for health and consumer and business freedom
of choice.
The industry and complimentary health organisations around Europe are hopeful that the European
Court of Justice will give its ruling prior to the imposition of the ban which comes into on 1
August 2005, on up to 270 forms of vitamins and minerals that are currently available in food
supplements sold in markets such as the UK, Sweden, Ireland and The Netherlands.
CONTACT DETAILS for further information: Dr Robert Verkerk Executive Director Tel: 01252 371 275
(general enquiries) Tel: 0771 484 7225 (direct) E-mail: [email protected]
David Hinde, Solicitor Legal Director Tel: 07958 548 186 (direct) E-mail: davidh@alliance-natural-
health.org
ANH LANDMARK LEGAL CHALLENGE TO EU FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Bianca Jagger are among thousands of consumers all over
Europe supporting the Alliance for Natural Health ("ANH") in its application for Judicial Review of
the Food Supplements Directive, which is to be heard in the High Court on Friday 30 January. Unless
challenged successfully, the Directive will ban, from 2005, thousands of safe products which have
been available for years.
ANH Executive Director, Dr Robert Verkerk, says: "People have had enough - this Directive is
supposed to be promoting trade in food supplements in the EU but actually has the reverse effect. It
will prohibit from sale many of the more advanced, safe supplements currently available in the UK,
Sweden, Ireland and Holland, forcing these countries to comply with a much more restrictive regime
more typical of the existing regimes in countries like Germany and France. The governments of these
countries are openly hostile to advanced food supplements. We go to court next Friday to commence a
test case to address this anomaly with a goal of obtaining a legal regime which befits the 21st
Century. We want to ensure that the Directive supports the role of nutrition at the heart of
healthcare policy.
We readily endorse the notion of reasonable and proportionate legislation for natural products. But
moves to ban around 300 of the 420 or so vitamin and mineral forms currently on the market must be
resisted, particularly when this will prevent the sale of some of the most beneficial food
supplements that have a long and unblemished track record of safety."
The ANH is supported by consumers, practitioners, and manufacturers and retailers of innovative food
supplements, across 43 countries. Over 80% of funds raised to-date for the challenge have come from
the end-users of these innovative food supplements, who are greatly concerned that the Directive
will deprive them of access to advanced, bioavailable and effective products of their choice.
David Hinde, Solicitor and Legal Director of the ANH adds: "We have lined up a legal team of the
highest calibre with barristers from Brick Court Chambers and solicitors at the Simkins Partnership.
ANH's challenge is based on EU constitutional law grounds. We say that the ban on food supplements
imposed by the Directive is quite unnecessary in order to facilitate the internal market and thus
goes beyond the legal powers of the Community legislator.
This case may well prove to be a landmark decision on the interface between EU legislative powers,
the sovereignty of Member States and the protection of individual and companies' rights. We support
appropriate legislation but the Directive in its present form is unworkable and will have a
catastrophic effect on the emerging market for advanced high potency and effective food
supplements."
Erica Murray of the Irish Association of Health Stores who has worked closely with ANH gathering
commercial data from Ireland, comments: "This Directive needs to be modified if it's going to deal
fairly with the thousands of smaller businesses involved with innovative natural health products
across Europe. Otherwise it will give a huge competitive advantage to the big companies, which
dominate mass-market sales of lower potency vitamin and mineral supplements from supermarkets and
pharmacies. We have lodged voluminous evidence from the UK, Sweden, Ireland and Italy to show that
the Directive - if unchallenged - will have dire consequences for hundreds of smaller businesses in
the UK and other parts of Europe."
Ms Murray adds: "We are pleased to see that other associations have now also seen the light. In
particular, we welcome the decision of the UK trade associations - the National Association of
Health Stores and the Health Food Manufacturers Association - to mount a parallel challenge. We hope
Europe gets the message that people want their advanced supplements. More and more people are
choosing natural products and this freedom of choice should not be denied." ---end.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Micronutritient deficiencies in the 'typical diet' Although many health authorities continue to
claim that it is possible to obtain all the nutrients required in a "balanced and varied diet,"
there is a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that large groups of people
do not meet the minimum nutritional requirements established through reference intakes, let alone
those needed for optimum health. Micronutritional status has been shown to be particularly
inadequate for particular groups such as the young, elderly, vegans or patients with malabsorption.
, Many factors contribute to reduced micronutrient intake.
These include inadequate consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, increased consumption of
processed foods, poor dietary choices, lower food intake caused by less active lifestyles and
inappropriate cooking methods. Furthermore, intensive training regimes, stress, smoking and exposure
to environmental chemicals places additional demands on the body and increases the requirement for
particular micronutrients. For example, that a smoker needs to consume 4 times the RDA of Vitamin C
in order to have the same plasma level of Vitamin C as a non-smoker.
National nutrition surveys undertaken in the UK have shown that that large minorities are not
reaching their dietary targets for Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNIs). , , In the case of the
elderly, inadequate intake of vitamin D, magnesium, Vitamin K and copper have been of
particular concern.9
In a major UK survey of dietary habits of 4 to 18 year-olds, it has been shown that the most
commonly consumed foods are white bread, savoury snacks, chips, biscuits, potatoes and chocolate
confectionery. Additionally, it was found that boys eat, by weight, nearly four times as many
biscuits than leafy green vegetables, while girls eat, by weight, more than four times as much
sweets and chocolate than leafy green vegetables.
The same survey also revealed that 91% of girls aged 4-6 years failed to reach the RNI for zinc (a
key mineral required for the immune system); while 97 % of girls aged 15 to 18 years did not reach
the RNI for magnesium, 73% did not reach the RNI for zinc, and 53 % did not reach the RNI (200 ìg)
for folic acid, despite recent studies that demonstrate that intakes well over 400 ìg are likely to
be required to minimise risk of neural tube defects.
The case for supplementation There has been a rapid recent expansion of the body of scientific
evidence in peer-reviewed journals which demonstrates that use of food supplements can improve
overall nutritional status and key bio-markers for health as well as reduce risk of chronic
diseases.11
However, many of the large scale clinical studies carried out to investigate the effects of nutrient
supplementation have involved single or limited numbers of nutrients, often at suboptimal doses.
Such studies are likely to underestimate the benefits of supplementation, given that many nutrients
function synergistically.
A major review of studies on the relationships between vitamin intake and various diseases published
between 1966 and 2002 demonstrated that suboptimal levels of vitamin intake are associated with
increased risk of contracting a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and
osteoporosis. The authors of this study concluded that many physicians may be unaware of common food
sources of vitamins or may be unsure which vitamins they should recommend for their patients and
given the current status of scientific knowledge it may be prudent for most adults to supplement
their diet with a daily multivitamin.11
A study which followed 11,178 people between the ages of 67 and 105 over the period 1984 - 1993
concluded that the overall risk of death was reduced by 42% for those who took higher dose
supplements of vitamins C and E.
It was demonstrated conclusively following a randomised double-blind prevention trial across 7
countries that women who took supplements containing 400 ìg folic acid reduced the risk of having
babies with neural tube defects such as spina bifida by some 72%.
In a very large study of 88,756 women from the Nurses' Health Study who were free of cancer in 1980
and provided updated assessments of diet, including multivitamin supplement use, from 1980 to 1994,
were followed through for colon cancer. It was found that long term use (over 15 years use), but not
short-term use (less than 4 years use) of multivitamins containing folic acid markedly reduced (ca.
5-fold) the frequency of colon cancer.
In a further epidemiological study involving 87,245 female nurses, it was found, after adjustment
for age and smoking, that long-term Vitamin E supplementation alone was associated with a 9%
reduction in heart disease. Vitamin C (1000 mg /day) and E (800 IU /day) supplements have been shown
to significantly reduce the development of arteriosclerosis.
In a clinical intervention study (CHAOS) of 2002 coronary patients by Cambridge University
scientists, supplementation of up to 800 IU vitamin E (in the á-tocopherol form) per day for over
two years was associated with reductions in the frequencies of heart attacks by as much as 75%.
It has been shown that long-term micronutritional deficiencies cause damage to DNA much in the same
way as radiation and such oxidative stress is likely to contribute to the development of cancer. For
Health Freedom, John C. Hammell, President International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary
Bay Road Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA http://www.iahf.com [email protected] 800-333-2553 N.America
360-945-0352 World
thank those of you who so generously donated to ANH's legal campaign. "
"We still have some way to go to pay legal bills to date, so please continue to give whatever you
can to pay the best legal team in Europe which was there for you today and are still owed fees.
Donations can be made via http://www.alliance-natural-health.org "
-----Original Message----- From: IAHF.COM [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, January 31, 2004
12:56 AM To: [email protected] Subject: ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON
FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
IAHF WEBMASTER: Breaking News, Whats New, All Countries, What to Do
IAHF LIST: Today in London I witnessed a historic victory over the Pharma Cartel, and would like to
thank those of you who so generously donated to ANH's legal campaign.
We can now apply for interim relief to stop the directive, pending the hearing we will now be
getting in the European Court of Justice at a later, as yet undetermined date.
ANH's attorney Conor Quigley QC delivered a flawless argument to which we could see the Judge
nodding his assent, which gave us all a real feeling of hope going into the lunch break. The real
hub of the case was the recognition that the directive produced by the European Commission went
much further than it needed to to achieve what it set out to do, which was harmonize products
across Europe.
(In other words, the ban of around 5000 products containing vitamins and minerals in the UK alone,
could well be illegal- not to mention the blockade on products being exported from the United
States.) What ANH now will be doing is proving in the EU Court of Justice that the Directive is
invalid because its illegally brought in the bans on the back of a harmonizing directive.
The result if ANH wins at the next stage will be that any country in the EU can continue using
products that go beyond the restrictions imposed by the positive list. So places like the UK,
Holland, Sweden and Ireland can remain safe havens for innovative products.
The fascinating thing is that people in Denmark, Germany, France, Spain and Italy, all of which have
highly restrictive regimes, are now getting behind ANH because they value access to innovative
products and nutritional therapies.
We may have had a victory today, but this is the beginning of a long road, and its going to be won
by consumers around the world taking control of these issues by getting behind such organizations as
IAHF, ANH, Mayday, La Leva di Archimede, National Health Federation, and others which are untainted
by Pharma Influence.
We still have some way to go to pay legal bills to date, so please continue to give whatever you can
to pay the best legal team in Europe which was there for you today and are still owed fees.
Donations can be made via http://www.alliance-natural-health.org
See press release below- I'll be in the UK for another few days, and will provide additional
information shortly, including photos which I'll be uploading to the IAHF website.
John Hammell, reporting live from the UK
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------
ANH OBTAINS REFERENCE TO EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
The landmark cases brought by the Alliance for Natural Health and two UK industry Associations have
been successful both in getting permission for Judicial Review and obtaining a reference to the
European Court of Justice in their challenge to the legality of the Food Supplements Directive ban
on nutrients.
Mr Justice Richards today gave judgment and emphasised that the reference to the European Court
should be made without delay.
This is a test case on the proper scope of the legislative powers of the Community Legislator
over member states and has far reaching implications for health and consumer and business freedom
of choice.
The industry and complimentary health organisations around Europe are hopeful that the European
Court of Justice will give its ruling prior to the imposition of the ban which comes into on 1
August 2005, on up to 270 forms of vitamins and minerals that are currently available in food
supplements sold in markets such as the UK, Sweden, Ireland and The Netherlands.
CONTACT DETAILS for further information: Dr Robert Verkerk Executive Director Tel: 01252 371 275
(general enquiries) Tel: 0771 484 7225 (direct) E-mail: [email protected]
David Hinde, Solicitor Legal Director Tel: 07958 548 186 (direct) E-mail: davidh@alliance-natural-
health.org
ANH LANDMARK LEGAL CHALLENGE TO EU FOOD SUPPLEMENTS BAN
Dame Judi Dench, Dame Joan Plowright and Bianca Jagger are among thousands of consumers all over
Europe supporting the Alliance for Natural Health ("ANH") in its application for Judicial Review of
the Food Supplements Directive, which is to be heard in the High Court on Friday 30 January. Unless
challenged successfully, the Directive will ban, from 2005, thousands of safe products which have
been available for years.
ANH Executive Director, Dr Robert Verkerk, says: "People have had enough - this Directive is
supposed to be promoting trade in food supplements in the EU but actually has the reverse effect. It
will prohibit from sale many of the more advanced, safe supplements currently available in the UK,
Sweden, Ireland and Holland, forcing these countries to comply with a much more restrictive regime
more typical of the existing regimes in countries like Germany and France. The governments of these
countries are openly hostile to advanced food supplements. We go to court next Friday to commence a
test case to address this anomaly with a goal of obtaining a legal regime which befits the 21st
Century. We want to ensure that the Directive supports the role of nutrition at the heart of
healthcare policy.
We readily endorse the notion of reasonable and proportionate legislation for natural products. But
moves to ban around 300 of the 420 or so vitamin and mineral forms currently on the market must be
resisted, particularly when this will prevent the sale of some of the most beneficial food
supplements that have a long and unblemished track record of safety."
The ANH is supported by consumers, practitioners, and manufacturers and retailers of innovative food
supplements, across 43 countries. Over 80% of funds raised to-date for the challenge have come from
the end-users of these innovative food supplements, who are greatly concerned that the Directive
will deprive them of access to advanced, bioavailable and effective products of their choice.
David Hinde, Solicitor and Legal Director of the ANH adds: "We have lined up a legal team of the
highest calibre with barristers from Brick Court Chambers and solicitors at the Simkins Partnership.
ANH's challenge is based on EU constitutional law grounds. We say that the ban on food supplements
imposed by the Directive is quite unnecessary in order to facilitate the internal market and thus
goes beyond the legal powers of the Community legislator.
This case may well prove to be a landmark decision on the interface between EU legislative powers,
the sovereignty of Member States and the protection of individual and companies' rights. We support
appropriate legislation but the Directive in its present form is unworkable and will have a
catastrophic effect on the emerging market for advanced high potency and effective food
supplements."
Erica Murray of the Irish Association of Health Stores who has worked closely with ANH gathering
commercial data from Ireland, comments: "This Directive needs to be modified if it's going to deal
fairly with the thousands of smaller businesses involved with innovative natural health products
across Europe. Otherwise it will give a huge competitive advantage to the big companies, which
dominate mass-market sales of lower potency vitamin and mineral supplements from supermarkets and
pharmacies. We have lodged voluminous evidence from the UK, Sweden, Ireland and Italy to show that
the Directive - if unchallenged - will have dire consequences for hundreds of smaller businesses in
the UK and other parts of Europe."
Ms Murray adds: "We are pleased to see that other associations have now also seen the light. In
particular, we welcome the decision of the UK trade associations - the National Association of
Health Stores and the Health Food Manufacturers Association - to mount a parallel challenge. We hope
Europe gets the message that people want their advanced supplements. More and more people are
choosing natural products and this freedom of choice should not be denied." ---end.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Micronutritient deficiencies in the 'typical diet' Although many health authorities continue to
claim that it is possible to obtain all the nutrients required in a "balanced and varied diet,"
there is a rapidly growing body of scientific evidence that demonstrates that large groups of people
do not meet the minimum nutritional requirements established through reference intakes, let alone
those needed for optimum health. Micronutritional status has been shown to be particularly
inadequate for particular groups such as the young, elderly, vegans or patients with malabsorption.
, Many factors contribute to reduced micronutrient intake.
These include inadequate consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, increased consumption of
processed foods, poor dietary choices, lower food intake caused by less active lifestyles and
inappropriate cooking methods. Furthermore, intensive training regimes, stress, smoking and exposure
to environmental chemicals places additional demands on the body and increases the requirement for
particular micronutrients. For example, that a smoker needs to consume 4 times the RDA of Vitamin C
in order to have the same plasma level of Vitamin C as a non-smoker.
National nutrition surveys undertaken in the UK have shown that that large minorities are not
reaching their dietary targets for Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNIs). , , In the case of the
elderly, inadequate intake of vitamin D, magnesium, Vitamin K and copper have been of
particular concern.9
In a major UK survey of dietary habits of 4 to 18 year-olds, it has been shown that the most
commonly consumed foods are white bread, savoury snacks, chips, biscuits, potatoes and chocolate
confectionery. Additionally, it was found that boys eat, by weight, nearly four times as many
biscuits than leafy green vegetables, while girls eat, by weight, more than four times as much
sweets and chocolate than leafy green vegetables.
The same survey also revealed that 91% of girls aged 4-6 years failed to reach the RNI for zinc (a
key mineral required for the immune system); while 97 % of girls aged 15 to 18 years did not reach
the RNI for magnesium, 73% did not reach the RNI for zinc, and 53 % did not reach the RNI (200 ìg)
for folic acid, despite recent studies that demonstrate that intakes well over 400 ìg are likely to
be required to minimise risk of neural tube defects.
The case for supplementation There has been a rapid recent expansion of the body of scientific
evidence in peer-reviewed journals which demonstrates that use of food supplements can improve
overall nutritional status and key bio-markers for health as well as reduce risk of chronic
diseases.11
However, many of the large scale clinical studies carried out to investigate the effects of nutrient
supplementation have involved single or limited numbers of nutrients, often at suboptimal doses.
Such studies are likely to underestimate the benefits of supplementation, given that many nutrients
function synergistically.
A major review of studies on the relationships between vitamin intake and various diseases published
between 1966 and 2002 demonstrated that suboptimal levels of vitamin intake are associated with
increased risk of contracting a variety of chronic diseases, including cancer, heart disease and
osteoporosis. The authors of this study concluded that many physicians may be unaware of common food
sources of vitamins or may be unsure which vitamins they should recommend for their patients and
given the current status of scientific knowledge it may be prudent for most adults to supplement
their diet with a daily multivitamin.11
A study which followed 11,178 people between the ages of 67 and 105 over the period 1984 - 1993
concluded that the overall risk of death was reduced by 42% for those who took higher dose
supplements of vitamins C and E.
It was demonstrated conclusively following a randomised double-blind prevention trial across 7
countries that women who took supplements containing 400 ìg folic acid reduced the risk of having
babies with neural tube defects such as spina bifida by some 72%.
In a very large study of 88,756 women from the Nurses' Health Study who were free of cancer in 1980
and provided updated assessments of diet, including multivitamin supplement use, from 1980 to 1994,
were followed through for colon cancer. It was found that long term use (over 15 years use), but not
short-term use (less than 4 years use) of multivitamins containing folic acid markedly reduced (ca.
5-fold) the frequency of colon cancer.
In a further epidemiological study involving 87,245 female nurses, it was found, after adjustment
for age and smoking, that long-term Vitamin E supplementation alone was associated with a 9%
reduction in heart disease. Vitamin C (1000 mg /day) and E (800 IU /day) supplements have been shown
to significantly reduce the development of arteriosclerosis.
In a clinical intervention study (CHAOS) of 2002 coronary patients by Cambridge University
scientists, supplementation of up to 800 IU vitamin E (in the á-tocopherol form) per day for over
two years was associated with reductions in the frequencies of heart attacks by as much as 75%.
It has been shown that long-term micronutritional deficiencies cause damage to DNA much in the same
way as radiation and such oxidative stress is likely to contribute to the development of cancer. For
Health Freedom, John C. Hammell, President International Advocates for Health Freedom 556 Boundary
Bay Road Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA http://www.iahf.com [email protected] 800-333-2553 N.America
360-945-0352 World