Return-Path: jham@concentric.net Errors-To: Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 20:42:39 -0500 (EST) X-Sender: jham@pop3.concentric.net To: cafmr@pnc.com.au From: John Hammell Subject: Vitamin B-6 Campaign in UK The following message is from Linda Lazerides at the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy in the UK and it was sent by SPNT@compuserve.com- Please note the url enclosed at the end of the message. Please forward this widely so people worldwide can monitor what is taking place in the UK with regards to MAFF's efforts to arbitrarily restrict B-6 to just 10mg. We all need to help combat this. See form letters in the IAHF site. - John I have been asked to write a brief update on the campaign in the UK to prevent the Government from banning all unlicensed brands of vitamin supplements containing more than 10 mg of vitamin B6. It has been a long, hard battle, with much still to come. So far we have the firm support of one fifth of our Members of Parliament. I am told that our Food Minister Jeff Rooker is feeling pretty stressed by the whole thing, so we are clearly doing well so far. The following article will be published soon in Nutritional Therapy Today, the journal of the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy. Please feel free to reproduce it: MPs Harry Barnes, Dr Ian Gibson and Dr Brian Iddon have secured an agreement that Parliament would be allowed a debate on the Government's proposed ban on vitamin products containing more than 10 mg of B6. "We have been battling for some time to secure this right", says Brian Iddon. "It means that decisions on B6 will not be made by unelected committees, but by MPs." The schedule for the legislation has now been decided. The Government's proposals will be published in late January 1998, followed by a six-week consultation period during which any member of the public may ask for a copy of the proposals and put their views forward. Subsequently, draft regulations will be prepared and laid before the House of Commons just before Easter. MPs will then debate the issue. The debate will be followed by a vote. Several questions still remain open. First, a public consultation does not guarantee that the draft regulations will be based on the public's views. "It may well be weighted in favour of organisations like the Consumers' Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and so on, simply because they have staff who can spend a lot of time on preparing scientifically impressive documents", says Linda Lazarides of the Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy. Second, the promised debate may not take place on the floor of the House of Commons, but in committee. If it is not on the floor, fewer MPs will have the opportunity to discuss what they are going to vote on, and to understand the arguments as fully as possible. Third, it is not yet clear whether MPs will have a free vote or whether the Labour Party will impose a whip. While Food Minister Jeff Rooker claims to maintain an open mind, and says that he will consider any "new evidence" in favour of the safety of vitamin B6, campaigners will be keeping up the pressure. New evidence, in the form of a study on 3,600 women carried out last autumn which refuted Katherine Dalton's claims that 50 mg of vitamin B6 caused toxic reactions has already been presented to Rooker, without seeming to result in any change of heart. In interviews, Rooker has also demonstrated a lack of awareness of the existence of some of the most important scientific evidence in favour of the safety of vitamin B6. It is the usual procedure for the Government to delegate the examination of any new evidence to one of its advisory committees such as the Committee on Toxicity (COT). Since the COT has already been given copies of 100 studies which support the safety of vitamin B6 at doses currently used by consumers yet chose to recommend the vitamin B6 ban on the basis of the only study which did not, campaigners are sceptical of the Government's claims to be "open-minded". You are invited to visit our web site at http://visitweb.com/spnt Very best wishes ... Linda Linda Lazarides Society for the Promotion of Nutritional Therapy UK ****************************************** Donations Needed- Need Help to Keep Helper On International Advocates for Health Freedom John C. Hammell, Legislative Advocate 2411 Monroe St.#2 Hollywood, FL 33020 USA 800-333-2553, 954-929-2905, FAX 954-929-0507, FAX ON DEMAND 954-927-8795,jham@concentric.net http://www.pnc.com.au/~cafmr/hammell/index.html