Codex Alimentarius: A serious threat to your health and freedom

Whether you realize it or not, there is a pitched battle being waged to seriously limit our access to good, effective nutritional supplements.  While Denmark and the European market may seem far removed from us, recent trade agreements require that the United States abide by regulations that will affect your right to choose an alternative to pharmaceutical-based healthcare.

Dr. Robert Jay Rowen's Second Opinion newsletter (September 2004) points out the dangers.  In his article, The War on Supplements Escalates, he asks, "What if I told you the next time you walk into your health food store will be the last time you're able to buy vitamin C in 500 mg doses?

"Or, what if I said the recommended daily allowances, as given by our government, became the maximum amount you could buy?

" … These situations could happen, [and it could happen within] 18 months."

While Dr. Rowen's fears did not materialize within 18 months (at least, not in the United States), the forces that would bring about these restrictions on your freedom to choose a non-toxic alternative to the pharmaceutically-oriented healthcare system of today are still at work today.  Freedoms in Canada are being eaten away incrementally, and there is virtual war being waged in the media here to raise concerns about the safety of some of the most basic dietary supplements. 

Dietary supplements are at risk

The simple fact is, the government is at war against nutritional supplements (see DVDs to the right).  Two bills were silently working their way through Congress this summer (2005).  [Update: This summer (2006), Congress is considering S. 3546, the Dietary Supplement and Non-Prescription Drug Consumer Protection Act (the Adverse Event Reporting bill).  This bill would erode the safeguards we've gained for our freedom to choose under DSHEA, shifting the classification of dietary supplements away from foods and more toward drugs.]  The government's war against choice has now escalated to the point where the outcome of these bills doesn't really matter; either way, you could lose your freedom to choose effective nutritional supplementation very soon.

How is that?

Because of certain trade agreements, it's possible that the United States will be require to declare high doses of nutritional supplements as drugs — subject to prescription laws.

How can this be?

Free Trade, Big Pharma and Codex Alimentarius

It's all about Codex Alimentarius.  The term is Latin for "Food Code".  It's a United Nations commission that operates as part of the World Health Organization, with a mandate to set international standards for trade in all kinds of food products.  Since nutritional supplements fall under the heading of food products, Codex has the power to determine what standards are to be applied to them, as well.

What you must understand is that the Codex commission has been hijacked by the pharmaceutical/chemical establishment.  This group is, on the one hand, leading the way for greater restriction of access to supplements here in America, heightening the hype about the need for greater FDA oversight of the dietary supplement industry, while, on the other hand, positioning itself in the dietary supplement industry.

I believe the goal is to end the availability of natural nutritional supplements, except in ridiculously small dosages, while cornering the market for higher dosed supplements, and so, take advantage of the billion dollar natural health market.

Besides the basic issues related to freedom of choice, I see two big problems here:

1. Making dietary supplement available only by prescription would no doubt significantly increase the price of nutritional supplements, and
2. Since synthetic vitamins are easier and cheaper to produce, it would most likely end the availability of natural supplements, even by prescription.

There are two problems with this:

1. Synthetic supplements are not body-friendly.  Your immune system reacts to them as it would any other pathogen.  Synthetics simply don't have the therapeutic action found in good, natural supplements, and
2. Since these supplements would be available only by prescription, you would have to trust your medical doctor's knowledge of nutrition for your healthcare needs.

That is a frightening thought.

Why should you be concerned about Codex?

The answer is horrifyingly clear.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission has been establishing world guidelines that no dietary supplement can be sold for preventative or therapeutic purposes without a prescription.  Denmark has already declared any supplement that has a psychological effect to be a drug.  That could conceivably include B vitamins, since a deficiency in the B vitamins can cause problems with mood.

The Codex commission is also limiting over-the-counter sales of dietary supplements to those of low or RDA dosage.  While these dosages may be adequate to prevent what are recognized today as deficiency diseases, they're not high enough to be effective in maintaining one's health.  Such low doses will not help to prevent chronic or degenerative diseases like cancer.  Any supplement sold in a high enough dosage to fortify the immune system or stave off aging or chronic diseases would be classified as a pharmaceutical, available only by prescription.

Not a theoretical threat: It's already in place in Europe

The Codex rules are already in place in Europe.  It's impact is that vitamin C, which we in the United States can purchase in tablets or capsules of up to 1,000 mg per dose, or in powder form with several thousand mg per teaspoon, is limited to just 50 mg per dose.

This is horrible.

But could it happen here?

Yes.  Treaties signed by our government (in the USA) will probably force us to comply with Codex rules.  If adopted by the World Health Organization, they become the standard for international trade, and enforcement would fall under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Organization.  When the U.S. became a member of the WTO, it agreed to act in accordance with the rules of this multilateral body; that is, the United States is legally obligated to conform to WTO laws.

To demonstrate how serious this is, the U.S. Congress has already changed American corporate tax law, and other laws, because of threats from the WTO.  (Furthermore, Utah had to rescind its ban on online gambling, and California had to allow gasoline with carcinogenic compounds to be sold there, in order to comply with such trade regulations.)  And if the United States fails to comply with Directives from the WTO, it could face sanctions from other member nations.

All of this because of the power of pharmaceutical companies.  As noted above, they have hijacked Codex for their own purposes — to secure their place as our only choice in healthcare.  There are billions — if not trillions — of dollars at stake, and the growing popularity of natural options in healthcare are cutting into their profits.

What can you do?

Don't bother writing to your Congressman.  There's nothing he/she can do about this.  The trade agreements are already in place.

What you can do is throw your support behind the British Alliance for Natural Health, which has filed suit to overturn the European Food Supplements Directive.  In January 2004, the Alliance's attorneys (a firm that has successfully had another European Directive overturned) won the first round in the High Court of Justice in London.  The case was appealed to the European Court of Justice.  [Update: The ruling was handed down in June 2005.  While it was not a clear victory for health freedom, it gave us enough room to press with other legal means.  Please see the ANH website to see how you can help.]

Please visit the Alliance's website at www.alliance-natural-health.org, read about its case, and most importantly, make a donation to support its efforts to protect everyone's supplements — including yours.

Even a few dollars will help.  If we can help them overturn this food supplement dictatorship in Europe, it won't ever come here.

And please, spread the word about this threat to your health.  Share it with friends and colleague, and don't forget to tell your local health food store about it.  This might not be known there.