Will Your Children Be Free To Purchase Dietary Supplements When They Grow Up?

UPDATE: CODEX ALIMENTARIUS and Dosages of Vitamins and Minerals Supplements

Over the July 4 weekend, with flag-waving Americans busy celebrating their freedoms, a worldwide trade body called CODEX took another step towards restricting public access to economical vitamin and mineral supplements. CODEX voted to adopt a scientific safety review of vitamin and minerals, towards development of safe upper limits for dietary supplements. The CODEX guidelines will most likely increase the cost of vitamin pills and limit dosages to addressing deficiency diseases only.

While various organizations and the US Food & Drug Administration claim CODEX regulations are not binding upon the US, the CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement), now before the US House of Representatives for final ratification, mandates the US establish a committee to implement CODEX guidelines. Furthermore, as long as CODEX does not conflict with existing US law, it can be implemented by health authorities without hesitation.

The US may be thrust into adopting CODEX guidelines for dietary supplements before establishment of the upper limits themselves. The upper limit numbers will not be published for a few months. The risk assessment methodology for establishment of upper limits is to be published by the Food & Agriculture Organization, a division of the United Nations.

Critics of CODEX wonder exactly what the upper limits will protect consumers from, since side effects from vitamin and mineral supplements are few, minor and usually reversible. Various groups question whether the science used to establish safe upper limits for dietary supplements is scientifically valid. The HAN Foundation (Heidelberg Appeal Nederland), in the Netherlands, will soon produce its own independent risk assessment of vitamin and mineral supplements. HAN is an independent non-profit making alliance of scientists whose aim is to ensure that scientific debates are properly aired, and that decisions which are taken and action that is proposed are founded on sound scientific principles. Read more about CODEX at www.knowledgeofhealth.com

Copyright 2005 Bill Sardi Knowledge of Health www.knowledgeofhealth.com
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