Outlaw High-Dose Supplements?

We've known that standardization of dosage in vitamins and minerals has been on the international agenda ever since the Codex Alimentarius Commission was leaked to the public about seven years ago. It has been strategized behind closed doors ever since 1962.
Codex Alimentarius is Latin for "food code." The commission is a United Nations think-tank designed to "administer the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Food Standards Program." The stated purpose is to "protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade." Germany drives the commission, but members represent over 170 countries.

The Codex guidelines for vitamin and mineral supplements state that 1) people should be encouraged to select a balanced diet from food rather than take dietary supplements 2) national regulations should determine whether vitamins and minerals are food or drugs 3) vitamins and minerals must comply with "relevant Codex standards" and be used only when "indispensability for human beings has been proven by scientific data...up to a level considered safe" 4) selection of admissible nutrient compounds are based on the nutrient criteria of the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization 5) the sale and use of vitamins and minerals can be limited for reasons of health protection 6) daily dosages shall remain below the dose range that produces a pharmacological effect 7) the maximum level of each nutrient in a vitamin/ mineral supplement shall not exceed the "recommended daily intake."

Two years ago, the British government used outdated research from the European scientific community to impose a "safe upper limit" of 25 mg for vitamin B6. The accepted industry standard is 200 mg. Millions of women take that amount three times daily, mostly for premenstrual symptoms! (A public outcry by both consumers and doctors caused the government to retreat.)

This year consumer anxiety over Codex increased when the London Times reported, "High dose vitamins and minerals, used by about 12 million people in the UK for illnesses ranging from colds to heart disease, are under threat by a European Union directive that could see them outlawed." (Sept. 25, 2001)

In 1996 the Life Extension Foundation reported that Dr Mathias Rath, a German doctor living in California, had developed a scientifically sound nutritional protocol for eradicating human cardiovascular disease. "This protocol threatens the interests of Hoescht, Bayer and BASF, all of whom manufacture dangerous, ineffective and outrageously expensive heart medications. Unless a much bigger international coalition can be formed to save our health freedom, we will see it stripped from us as the drug companies play a game called 'boiling the frog slowly.'" (Dr Rath now sponsors an international anti-Codex Web site that offers the latest information on Codex happenings.)

"Germany has been attempting to manipulate the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Use to further the interest of the pharmaceutical industry by raising regulatory standards, so that only the big drug companies can survive." (Life Extension Foundation, 1996)

In 1997 Health Minister Allan Rock coincidentally asked the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health to conduct a "full review on how natural health products were regulated in Canada... to provide Canadians with the safety, quality and freedom of choice they were seeking" and the Office of Natural Health Products was born! A few consultations were held around the country (in French and English) and the director of the new office, when asked, insisted there was no connection with the Codex Alimentarius Commission.

The Office of Natural Health Products (ONHP) is highly suspect. It appears to be a stepping stone to further international regulatory restriction and is in line with the Codex guidelines. Read the ONHP mandate at < hc-sc.gc.ca/ htp/ onhp >. Or phone 1-877-903-8202 for a paper copy. Keep alert. Keep asking questions. Demand answers.

This is a time of peace towards those of good will. I wish peace to you and yours this holiday season.