Codex Alimentarius: The Fight is Not Over Despite the Government’s Apathy

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Regular readers of our daily alert will remember the alert ‘Codex Alimentarius: You Must Do This Today!’, in which I urged you to sign a petition to the Prime Minister to stop Codex Alimentarius.

Well, if you signed the above mentioned petition then, like me, you would’ve received an email on 27 November 2009 with the Prime Minister’s response to our concerns. You can also read his response here: 

In short, Gordon Brown told us (more than 60,000 people concerned about the effects of Codex guidelines on food supplements) that we have nothing to be worried about. Nothing! How very reassuring to know we can now carry on with our lives, knowing we are in safe hands...

Codex Alimentarius: The blind leading those who desperately want to see

Frankly, being told by the PM not to worry is not only patronising, it also misses the point of our concerns which were made clear and pressingly evident in the petition.

With this petition, we raised the points that the Codex Alimentarius guideline - The Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements adopted in July 2005 – will:

* in due course establish an internationally recognised maximum daily dosage for vitamin and minerals in food supplements, predicted to be far too low to provide any therapeutic value;
* restrict consumers' access to the wide range of vitamin and mineral supplements of varying potencies legally sold at present;
* limit the amount and type of information on the labels of dietary supplements;
* eventually require dietary supplements at certain dosages to be sold as prescribed medicine.

Yet, the PM feels that we have nothing to worry about... nothing?

Codex Alimentarius: Shunned by the American Senate

If there was nothing to fear, why is it then that in the US, late last month, the Senate HELP Committee unanimously approved the food safety bill but not before making amendments that raised a cheer from the US dietary supplements industry?

Originally, the bill required the development of a plan “to harmonize requirements under the Codex Alimentarius”. Supplement manufacturers and the US dietary supplements industry took objection to this because, as the American Association for Health Freedom (AAHF) put it, “a global standard is very likely to reflect European standards which are extremely hostile to dietary supplements.”

Gretchen Dubeau, executive director of AAHF, said: “We are grateful to Senator Harkin for clearly stating that the HELP Committee does not intend the US to commit itself to the concept of mandatory Codex harmonization.” Dubeau also added: “We look forward to working with bill sponsors to ensure that every protective measure is taken to prevent any precedent that could lead to future harmonization.”

So if the US can see the threat, hear the concerns of the public and act upon them, why can’t our own PM see the light and actually do something?

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Codex Alimentarius: Rats in the chicken pen

What really makes people uneasy is the concept that the global food supply is becoming increasingly controlled by a small number of corporations and governments. There is a much bigger picture to look at and in some respects, Codex’s remit on vitamins and mineral food supplements is just the thin end of the wedge.

If you’re living in Europe, Codex actually makes little or no difference to the availability of food supplements. This is taken care of by EU laws, some of which, given the EU’s major influence on the Codex Committee on Nutrition, provide templates for Codex. (See the articles ‘Gagging Order Imposed on Probiotics – More Nutrients and Supplements Soon to Follow’ and ‘Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Threat in the UK’.)

What we Europeans should really be concerned about is Codex’s role in approving technologies that are either downright dangerous or create irreparable damage to the environment. These include endorsing genetically modified (GM) crops, pesticides, food irradiation and the use of synthetic chemical additives in foods.

In an article in the most recent issue of The Economist we are told that for most of the past 25 years, investment in agriculture has declined relentlessly. In 2005, most developing countries were investing only around 5 per cent of public revenues in farming. Yet we are meant to feed a population that is expected to grow by another third by 2030 and hit an estimated 9 billion by 2050...

And we’re expected not to be worried about the quality of our food and our access to concentrated sources of nutrients (food/dietary supplements) to make up for its inadequacies?

Codex Alimentarius: Action to take

Of course, we all feel very frustrated about the difficulty of impacting Codex. Most of us are simply not willing to take the British PM’s advice and stop worrying and do nothing. We do not trust the small number of governments and corporations that are wrestling control of the global food supply.

Complacency is our biggest enemy and like Gretchen Dubeau of AAHF said, we must ensure to take every protective measure to prevent any model that could lead to future harmonization. Here’s what you can do:

* Inform yourself about Codex using documentation available from the official Codex website and that of the Alliance for Natural Health.
* Communicate you concerns to as many people you know as possible, both within and outside your country.
* Write to and/or meet with your elected government representative and ensure they work on your behalf to influence the government.
* Work to influence national laws such as those on GMO’s, food additives, food safety, pesticide residues, organic farming, food supplements and health claims that are likely to influence the development of Codex guidelines and standards.

Fundamentally, some of the most influential laws are copied form the EU, the US and Canada. This is therefore a call to all citizens and food producers and suppliers from these three countries to engage with the law making system to the maximum possible extent in the genuine interest of public health.

Related Reading:

Codex Alimentarius: You Must Do This Today!

Codex Alimentarius: How Well Are You Informed? 

Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine Under Threat in the UK

Gagging Order Imposed On Probiotics – More Nutrients and Supplements Soon To Follow

The Scandal That Removes Your Freedom To Choose 

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Sources:

‘AAHF claims Senate victory for supplement choice’ by Guy Montague-Jones, published online 19.11.09, foodnavigator.com

‘How to feed the world’ published online, 19.11.09, economist.com

‘Codex: confusion – or smokescreen?’ published online by The Alliance for Natural health 30.11.09, anhcampaign.org

‘Codex—government and corporate control of our food supply’ published online, anhcampaign.org