Andrew Turner, the Island’s MP, recently joined celebrity actress Jenny Seagrove and Totland resident Chris Whitehouse to urge the Prime Minister to block a bid by the EU to ban thousands of vitamin & mineral food supplements, used safely in the UK for decades.

As they launched the Time Is Running Out campaign, campaign group Consumers for Health Choice unveiled thousands of posters in British High Streets, and a million postcards to lobby MPs.

Andrew Turner insisted :

“The EU Food Supplements Directive will severely restrict consumer choice. This is a prime example of Europe meddling needlessly in our affairs. Nobody is suggesting that these vitamin and mineral products are unsafe. Many people have taken them for years and rely on them for all sorts of things. I fear that if this goes ahead there will be health store closures and job losses. Hundreds of Islanders have contacted me about this issue in recent years and I will continue to fight for them to keep the right to take the supplements they want.”

The EU is poised to ban vitamins and supplements at anything more than meaningless doses; Britain’s chemists, supermarkets, and healthfood shops will be cleared of all other products by 31st December. At the moment, higher-dose supplements, all within proven safe limits, are taken by consumers helping stave off everything from general tiredness, SAD syndrome and coughs & colds to PMT and restless legs.

A commitment to keep supplements available and to fight the Brussels bureaucrats was made in 2005, yet almost five years later the Government has failed to implement its own policy.

Chris Whitehouse, Director of Strategy for CHC, the group behind the highly successful Save-Our-Supplements campaign said:

“We do feel very let down. The Food Standards Agency was instructed to fight our corner in Brussels; they accept that our supplements are safe - yet they have failed to speak up for British people. As things stand, doses of all vitamins and all minerals could be reduced to meaningless amounts to appease countries such as France and Germany who wish to control the market. Such an outcome would be catastrophic.

“The official view of EU regulators remains that the destruction of the British industry is an acceptable price to pay for harmonizing the market across all Member Stares. That is outrageous yet our Government is allowing it to happen. Gordon’s Government should wake up, keep its promises and block this burdensome and meddlesome legislation. We will make this a General Election issue; perhaps that will help concentrate their minds.”

Attachment : Photo of Chris Whitehouse, Jenny Seagrove and Andrew Turner MP at Westminster
END Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808