New EU regulations restricting the sale of vitamin and mineral pills will come into force next month following a ruling from the European court of justice yesterday.
However, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it knew of no supplements that would actually be banned under the EU directive. After a fierce campaign against the regulations in the UK, a derogation will allow most supplement manufacturers to continue to sell their products until the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has checked whether any of them are unsafe, a process that could take up to 2009.
The European food supplements directive had attracted strong criticism from supplement makers but support from consumer groups. Vitamin pill manufacturers lobbied hard against it, saying it would lead to the banning of popular, safe supplements and impose huge costs on small companies.
Tony Blair cited it as an example of excessive regulation in a speech recently and said he had received letters from more than 300 doctors and scientists opposing the directive. A petition against it attracted over 1m signatures. The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), a group that represents supplement manufacturers, distributors and consumers, mounted a legal challenge to the directive.
The high court referred the case to the European court of justice, which in a preliminary ruling in April said the new rules were disproportionate and violated some legal principles.
The full court, however, gave its decision yesterday in favour of the directive, saying the restrictions proposed by the EU were "appropriate" and necessary to protect public safety. The court also said products should only be rejected "on the basis of a full risk assessment". This means that manufacturers who have submitted information on the ingredients of their supplements will be allowed to carry on selling them unless the EFSA finds there is a problem with their safety.
The FSA said it had received dossiers on just over 500 ingredients by yesterday's deadline. Well known supplements on the list include selenium-enriched yeast, tin, manganese, boron and vitamin K2. "The great majority of food supplements people take will continue to be freely available," an FSA spokesman said.
The ANH said the provisions in the directive represented a victory for its campaign. Its legal director, David Hinde, said: "The result is a victory for natural healthcare." The alliance added that the court's ruling ensured that the directive would only apply to chemically synthesised products.
The consumer watchdog Which? has campaigned over several years for controls to prevent the sale of very high doses of vitamins that could damage health. Sue Davies chief policy adviser for Which?, said: "The decision today means that, finally, people who take supplements will be properly protected. The directive will ensure that products are safe, that they contain forms of vitamins and minerals that offer some benefit, and that they are clearly labelled.
"Contrary to the many misleading reports put out by those wishing to promote and sell supplements free of controls to protect consumers, the directive is not anti-consumer choice," Ms Davies added.
