CONSUMERS FOR HEALTH CHOICE AND THE FOOD SUPPLEMENTS DIRECTIVE

That this House salutes the campaign mounted tenaciously by Consumers for Health Choice over a period of nine years to highlight the implications of the Food Supplements Directive; congratulates that organisation in making the humble vitamin and mineral supplement a matter of great national debate; deeply regrets the failure of the Government to achieve its own stated objectives and that many safe and popular supplements are now being removed from the market in order to meet the July deadline for compliance with the list of permitted ingredients; anticipates even greater concern in subsequent months as restrictive levels for nutrients in supplements are set; welcomes the announcement by Consumers for Health Choice that it is planning to distribute eight million leaflets to consumers of supplements during the coming General Election campaign and to display 4,000 posters in health food stores around the country to highlight its concerns on this issue on a non-partisan basis; and expresses the hope that the Government will at last take action to address this problem.