Come to the Natural Trade Show Brighton on Sunday 13th and Monday 14th March.

http://www.naturaltradeshow.com/PAGES/home.htm

Dr Rob Verkerk will be speaking at the CMA seminar on Sunday between 2.30 and 3.30 pm and he will also be speaking together with Dr Damien Downing, one of the UK's leading clinical nutritionists, on Monday between 2.15 and 2.55 pm. 

PRESS RELEASE

For immediate release                                                      

13 March 2005

Stand 326/327 at The Natural Trade Show, Brighton 

“OUR WORK HAS JUST BEGUN”
SAYS ALLIANCE FOR NATURAL HEALTH

The Alliance for Natural Health (“ANH”), the pan-European campaign organisation comprised of dedicated professionals responsible for safeguarding the leading-edge in natural healthcare, confirms its approach for the coming 12 months.

Most importantly, the ANH will continue to focus its efforts over the next year on positively shaping forthcoming regulation and legislation. In particular it will address the many concerns that exist in relation to the Food Supplements Directive, the Human Medicinal Products (Pharmaceuticals) Directive, the EU Nutrition & Health Claims Regulation and Codex Alimentarius.

It will continue to deal with these issues at the point of influence, which for example means lobbying in relation to or challenging European Directives in Europe. This approach is core to the ANH's strategy and underpins the considerable results it has achieved to date.

Furthermore, the ANH will increase its programme of activity to raise awareness of the legislative and regulatory issues facing safe natural health products, promote their benefits in achieving optimum health and counter negative publicity where it is based on the dissemination of scientific findings that have either been misrepresented or are the result of flawed methodologies.

Commenting on the prospects for Natural Health over the next twelve months, Dr Robert Verkerk, Executive Director of the ANH said:

“We have worked very successfully since the inception of the ANH some three years ago to positively shape legislation and regulation that has an impact on safe, leading-edge natural health products. The landmark legal challenge against the Food Supplements Directive may be thing we are most recognised for, but we have been working on a wide range of other issues as well. We are confident that following the European Court of Justice hearing in Luxembourg led by the ANH barristers on 25 January this year that the ban on vitamins and mineral food supplements has a strong chance of being overturned.

“However, with an immense catalogue of further regulation in the pipeline from the EU, the US and the UN, our work has in many senses just begun. Our forward strategy is to ensure that all these regulatory measures will be developed having fully taken into consideration all the facts and protocols pertaining to the use and benefits of safe natural health products through the application of good science and good law, principles which lie at the absolute heart of all that the ANH does.”

“The ANH will also be working hard to continue to raise awareness of the importance of leading edge natural health products in achieving optimum health and to ensure the facts about safe natural products are accurately disseminated.

ENDS 

For enquiries and further information contact:

Alliance for Natural Health
www.alliance-natural-health.org

Dr Robert Verkerk, Executive Director                                       
Tel:    01252 371 275 
Mobile: 0771 484 7225                                                                    
E-mail: [email protected]

David C. Hinde, Solicitor, Legal Director
Tel:  0207 738 1640
Mobile: 07958 548 186
E-mail: [email protected]

IKON Associates
(PR for the Alliance for Natural Health)

Adrian Shaw
Tel: 01483 535102
Mobile: 0797 9900733
E-mail: [email protected]

Paul Donkersley
Tel:  01483 535101
Mobile: 07967 646046
E-mail: [email protected]

Notes for editors:

1.  The Alliance for Natural Health is a Europe-wide association of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, consumers and complementary practitioners who have an interest in food supplements. More information, including details of members, will be found at www.alliance-natural-health.org

Good science and good law underpin all of the ANH's work, and the scientific reports produced by the ANH are endorsed by many of the world's leading doctors and scientists working in the field of nutrition.

 2.      If the ban on vitamins and minerals is implemented there is much at stake:

Over 5000 products will disappear from the shelves of UK health stores as a result of the ban removing access to over 300 vitamin and mineral ingredients (out of a total of 420). These include amongst others the main natural forms of Vitamin E, many forms of vitamin C and MSM and minerals such as vanadium, silicon and boron, all being products which millions of consumers choose to take as part of their regular health regime and have done so without any ill effects for many years.

An individual's freedom of choice to take safe natural health products will be removed – 40% of the UK's population take vitamins and minerals.

Products are to be banned with absolutely no scientific justification. Many of the world's leading scientific and medical experts in nutrition support this.

 3. The ANH has achieved the following to date:

Raised public awareness of the significance of these issues to the long-term sustainability of natural healthcare

Made significant amendments to EU legislation through collaboration with Members of the European Parliament

Successfully brought the landmark legal challenge to the EU Food Supplements Directive

Promoted good, rational science as the basis on which nutritional supplement upper safe levels should be assessed

Created a united front of common interests across Europe, the USA and many other countries.

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