Euro MEPs oppose Food Supplements Directive (1)

‘No evidence of vitamin danger’ by John Bowis OBE MEP (Con), Theresa Villiers MEP (Con), Dr. Charles Tannock MEP (Con).

SIR – You highlight (editorial June 30) the detrimental effect that the British Government’s implementation of the EU’s Food Supplements Directive will have on the ability of British consumers to make their own decisions.

The banning of 300 vitamin and minerals supplements from the high street is not medically justified and a step too far by an over-regulating and interfering European Commission.

Conservative MEPs have consistently opposed the idea, preferring to support improved consumer choice and freedom instead. Consumers have been let down by Labour MEPs who voted for the directive, which will ban some 300 products that are currently legal and safely on sale in Britain.

We support consumers and the small firms that supply so many of our food supplements. Food supplements are much more readily available in Britain than in other countries of the EU, which means British consumers will be among the most affected. There is no evidence that anyone in Britain or any other EU country has suffered through taking such supplements. We trust the probity of the manufacturers and the good sense of the customer. We don’t need more costs and red tape heaped upon consumers and small businesses.

Thousand of consumers will find they can no longer buy the dosages of these supplements to which they have become accustomed. Consumers will therefore have to pay more to buy more or they will simply buy from outside the EU on the internet, where there might be no protection for the consumer at all.