Home  Industry Codex - what was that about roads and "good intentions"?
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Codex - what was that about roads and "good intentions"? |
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by James J. Gormley
The devastation of the world's food supply during World War II was the major impetus for the U.S. to introduce the recommended dietary allowances (RDAS) in 1941. President Franklin D. Roosevelt also convened the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO)
founding conference, the U.N.
Conference on Food and Agriculture, in
Hot Springs, Virginia, in 1943.
The conference called on the new FAO
organization to “help governments consider
the formulation and adoption of
similar international standards of [ . . . ]
purity for all foods and to . . . facilitate
and protect the interchange of products
between countries.”
Within two decades, the Codex
Alimentarius (Latin for “food code”)
Commission would be born. FAO's mandate,
hence Codex's mandate, was not to
“dumb down” the potency—hence the
health-optimizing benefits—of nutritional
supplements throughout the
world, but that is unfortunately where the
commission is headed right now, in
many respects.
Given the strong safety record of nutritional
supplements, upper safe levels
should be implemented and regarded the
same way as are the U.S. RDAs—as recommendations
for consumers and as required
information to be listed by manufacturers
but not as mandated potency limits signed
off by national governments and not as
trade barriers that would block international
consumer access to health-enhancing
levels of vitamin and mineral compounds.
The overriding standards should be
these: purity and truthfulness in labeling.
Products should state what they contain,
contain what they state, the natural or
synthetic sources from where they are
derived and whether these sources are
believed to be genetically engineered (GE
or GMO) sources or not.
Consumers have the right to decide,
and therefore the responsibility, for what
they purchase. National governments
and Codex should, therefore, instead
focus or refocus its efforts on truthful
labeling and product purity.
If you are concerned about preserving
your health freedoms and are worried
that international regulations would
restrict your access to supplements, I
encourage you to go to the Citizens for
Health (www.citizens.org) Web site
http://www.healthactioncenter.com/action/index.asp?step=2&item=21232 and email Drs. Barbara Schneeman and F. Edward Scarbrough.
Make sure also to speak to your local
U.S. representatives and Senators—tell
them you're opposed to any international
regulations that could, over time,
change how supplements are sold and
regulated here in the U.S. If accepted as
an international standard by the U.S.
Codex delegation and international
treaties and subsequently implemented
in the U.S. (called “harmonization”), our
access to innovative and healthenhancing
dietary supplements will be
dramatically restricted—forever.
In the words of Thomas Jefferson,
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
We must always be on guard to
ensure our health freedoms are not
taken away.
James J. Gormley is a noted natural products
industry commentator and consumer
health advocate and serves as policy
advisor to Citizens for Health.
Citizens for Health was formed by a group
of ordinary people who believe that good
health is a right. Over 120 million
Americans regularly use dietary supplements,
eat organic foods or visit alternative
medical practitioners. Collectively, they represent
the largest unorganized consumer
movement in the country. Citizens For
Health is the national grassroots advocacy
organization committed to protecting and
expanding natural health choices. Natural
health options are proven to enhance wellness
and reduce health care costs by millions.
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