HELP SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS
Target:
FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN HEALTHCARE
Sponsored by:
We require that the Irish government and EU commission respect and retain our right as consumers to exercise freedom of choice in healthcare.
Specifically we require that our right to access the higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, which have been available in Ireland and elsewhere for the past 40 years, should not be eroded as is currently proposed under the Food Supplements Directive and recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
To help to save our supplements please sign our petition.
For more detailed information read our letter.
Specifically we require that our right to access the higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, which have been available in Ireland and elsewhere for the past 40 years, should not be eroded as is currently proposed under the Food Supplements Directive and recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
To help to save our supplements please sign our petition.
For more detailed information read our letter.
We require that the Irish government and EU commission respect and retain our right as consumers to exercise freedom of choice in healthcare.
Specifically we require that our right to access the higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, which have been available in Ireland and elsewhere for the past 40 years, should not be eroded as is currently proposed under the Food Supplements Directive and recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
To help to save our supplements please sign our petition.
For more detailed information read our letter.
Specifically we require that our right to access the higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, which have been available in Ireland and elsewhere for the past 40 years, should not be eroded as is currently proposed under the Food Supplements Directive and recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
To help to save our supplements please sign our petition.
For more detailed information read our letter.
:: HELP SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS ::
The European Union is currently working to set maximum levels for vitamin and mineral supplements on sale in Ireland and throughout the EU. The Irish Government has proposed these should be no higher than RDA levels, i.e. the minimum amount you need to prevent deficiency disease. In other words, the RDA level of vitamin C, being 60mg a day, is enough to prevent scurvy but this measure is virtually useless for supporting your immune system. RDA levels are very much lower than amounts needed to support optimal health.
All our minerals and vitamins will be affected. Try telling somebody suffering from PMT that under the Food Supplements Directive she will only be able to buy 0.02mg vitamin B6 as a tablet instead of the 50 or 100 mg she currently finds useful. Will muscle twitches and migraine be avoided by taking 3mg magnesium instead of the current 150-300mg? How useful can 0.15mg zinc a day possibly be to safeguard, for example, prostate health, if you currently use at least 15mg a day?
Food is the primary source of our nutrients, but there is ample evidence that nutrient levels in foods are decreasing and that our need for extra nutrients is climbing. Modern lifestyle, diet, food processing and stress all contribute to a need for dietary supplementation. Hands up those of you who have eaten 7 (or even 5) helpings of fruit and vegetables every day for the past week!
SAFETY
None of the vitamins and minerals currently on sale have caused any serious side effects in 40 years of use in Ireland. Safety is NOT a problem! The food in the average fridge is a far greater hazard. You are significantly more likely to die of a bee sting or by being struck by lightning than to be seriously affected by taking food supplements. There is simply no comparison when you consider the hazards of using painkillers, cigarettes or alcohol which are available in every supermarket and corner shop.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
If the RDA levels for food supplements as proposed are agreed by the EU, your freedom of choice to use safe and effective means to maintain your good health will be clearly violated. Do you object?
IF YOU DO OBJECT, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You can bring pressure to bear on Irish politicians by:
1. Signing the national petition here or in your local health store.
2. Writing to our Minister for Health.
3. Writing to Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou and addressing a copy of that letter to our Minister.
4. Talking and writing to everyone who might be interested in the issue, including local press, friends, work colleagues, politicians, MEPs.
This campaign will last till the autumn by which time we hope to have collected many thousands of signatures and that hundreds of letters will have been written to Minister Harney and Commissioner Kyprianou.
Suggested guidelines for inclusion in letters to Commissioner Kyprianou and the Minister for Health (Please include points most relevant to yourself, particularly no. 6.)
1. Who you are. Whether you use or have used vitamin and mineral supplements (VMS).
2. Why you are writing: new limits for VMS due to be set by the EU over the coming months. Your concern that these may be set at far lower levels than in products that are currently available, and have been on open sale in Ireland for 40 years.
3. Safety. VMS used by you are safe and effective. No health risks. No serious adverse effects ever reported in Ireland. Compare with other products on open sale such as pain killers, tobacco and alcohol and their well known dangers to health.
4. VMS can help maintain good health and shorten hospital queues, in accordance with abundant scientific evidence.
5. Your right to freedom of choice would be grossly infringed if current levels of VMS were removed from open sale.
6. Individual EU Member States such as Ireland should be allowed to retain the flexibility to place on the market products which include higher potency VMS if there is a history of usage in a particular Member State.
7. Ask if Commissioner Kyprianou/our Government can reassure you that they will not be proposing or supporting unacceptably low levels for supplements.
8. Ask for a response.
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou
DG Sanco,
The European Commission,
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.
(If writing to the Commissioner, send a copy of this letter to our Minister for Health with a covering note.)
The Minister for Health and Children, Hawkins House, Dublin 2
The European Union is currently working to set maximum levels for vitamin and mineral supplements on sale in Ireland and throughout the EU. The Irish Government has proposed these should be no higher than RDA levels, i.e. the minimum amount you need to prevent deficiency disease. In other words, the RDA level of vitamin C, being 60mg a day, is enough to prevent scurvy but this measure is virtually useless for supporting your immune system. RDA levels are very much lower than amounts needed to support optimal health.
All our minerals and vitamins will be affected. Try telling somebody suffering from PMT that under the Food Supplements Directive she will only be able to buy 0.02mg vitamin B6 as a tablet instead of the 50 or 100 mg she currently finds useful. Will muscle twitches and migraine be avoided by taking 3mg magnesium instead of the current 150-300mg? How useful can 0.15mg zinc a day possibly be to safeguard, for example, prostate health, if you currently use at least 15mg a day?
Food is the primary source of our nutrients, but there is ample evidence that nutrient levels in foods are decreasing and that our need for extra nutrients is climbing. Modern lifestyle, diet, food processing and stress all contribute to a need for dietary supplementation. Hands up those of you who have eaten 7 (or even 5) helpings of fruit and vegetables every day for the past week!
SAFETY
None of the vitamins and minerals currently on sale have caused any serious side effects in 40 years of use in Ireland. Safety is NOT a problem! The food in the average fridge is a far greater hazard. You are significantly more likely to die of a bee sting or by being struck by lightning than to be seriously affected by taking food supplements. There is simply no comparison when you consider the hazards of using painkillers, cigarettes or alcohol which are available in every supermarket and corner shop.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
If the RDA levels for food supplements as proposed are agreed by the EU, your freedom of choice to use safe and effective means to maintain your good health will be clearly violated. Do you object?
IF YOU DO OBJECT, WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You can bring pressure to bear on Irish politicians by:
1. Signing the national petition here or in your local health store.
2. Writing to our Minister for Health.
3. Writing to Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou and addressing a copy of that letter to our Minister.
4. Talking and writing to everyone who might be interested in the issue, including local press, friends, work colleagues, politicians, MEPs.
This campaign will last till the autumn by which time we hope to have collected many thousands of signatures and that hundreds of letters will have been written to Minister Harney and Commissioner Kyprianou.
Suggested guidelines for inclusion in letters to Commissioner Kyprianou and the Minister for Health (Please include points most relevant to yourself, particularly no. 6.)
1. Who you are. Whether you use or have used vitamin and mineral supplements (VMS).
2. Why you are writing: new limits for VMS due to be set by the EU over the coming months. Your concern that these may be set at far lower levels than in products that are currently available, and have been on open sale in Ireland for 40 years.
3. Safety. VMS used by you are safe and effective. No health risks. No serious adverse effects ever reported in Ireland. Compare with other products on open sale such as pain killers, tobacco and alcohol and their well known dangers to health.
4. VMS can help maintain good health and shorten hospital queues, in accordance with abundant scientific evidence.
5. Your right to freedom of choice would be grossly infringed if current levels of VMS were removed from open sale.
6. Individual EU Member States such as Ireland should be allowed to retain the flexibility to place on the market products which include higher potency VMS if there is a history of usage in a particular Member State.
7. Ask if Commissioner Kyprianou/our Government can reassure you that they will not be proposing or supporting unacceptably low levels for supplements.
8. Ask for a response.
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou
DG Sanco,
The European Commission,
B-1049 Brussels, Belgium.
(If writing to the Commissioner, send a copy of this letter to our Minister for Health with a covering note.)
The Minister for Health and Children, Hawkins House, Dublin 2
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We signed the "HELP SAVE OUR SUPPLEMENTS" petition!
# 573:
11:35 am PST, Dec 21,
David Cracker, Ireland
# 572:
3:25 am PST, Dec 19,
Laurel Watson, Arizona
# 571:
3:20 pm PST, Dec 14,
Brad Hammer, Ireland
# 570:
1:57 pm PST, Dec 13,
Brittany Yarrington, Michigan
# 568:
7:47 am PST, Dec 10,
Michael Rabasco, Minnesota
# 567:
10:40 am PST, Dec 8,
Philippa Barry, Ireland
# 566:
3:39 am PST, Dec 7,
Richard Rush, Ireland
this is a deeply ridiculous act which also works inn direct contravention to the emergence of internetworked markets. I would rather buy in Ireland, but if I can;t there are many ways I can legally obtain these products outside our borders. This is just stupid, stupid, stupid. and I would very much liek to know who is being paid off with this legislation.
this is a deeply ridiculous act which also works inn direct contravention to the emergence of internetworked markets. I would rather buy in Ireland, but if I can;t there are many ways I can legally obtain these products outside our borders. This is just stupid, stupid, stupid. and I would very much liek to know who is being paid off with this legislation.
# 565:
6:32 am PST, Dec 4,
Name not displayed, Ireland
when you have finished setting 'safe' quantities of cigarettes, alcohol, and unhealthy foods, for sale then come and annoy people who are pursuing healthy living.mean time if it ain't broke don't fix it , there are enough real problems that require your attention.
when you have finished setting 'safe' quantities of cigarettes, alcohol, and unhealthy foods, for sale then come and annoy people who are pursuing healthy living.mean time if it ain't broke don't fix it , there are enough real problems that require your attention.
# 564:
2:21 am PST, Dec 2,
Frankie Rushe, Ireland
# 563:
3:30 pm PST, Nov 29,
Colin McCaffrey, Ireland
Given the deteriorating nutritional content of increasingly industrialised agricultural methods the right to access supplementary vitamin and mineral content is imperative to maintaining health and immune response. Most of these substances have been easily accessible for many years without risk to help when used responsibly. It is our right to exercise this personal responsibility over our own health. It should never be allowed to be subject to pharmaceutical industry control, an industry which has a serious conflict of interest in the face of a healthy non pharmaceutical dependent populace. This should be self evident but apparently we have to fight to maintain these rights at every bureaucratic turn. Do not allow these rights to be stripped away.
Given the deteriorating nutritional content of increasingly industrialised agricultural methods the right to access supplementary vitamin and mineral content is imperative to maintaining health and immune response. Most of these substances have been easily accessible for many years without risk to help when used responsibly. It is our right to exercise this personal responsibility over our own health. It should never be allowed to be subject to pharmaceutical industry control, an industry which has a serious conflict of interest in the face of a healthy non pharmaceutical dependent populace. This should be self evident but apparently we have to fight to maintain these rights at every bureaucratic turn. Do not allow these rights to be stripped away.
# 562:
2:22 pm PST, Nov 28,
Sinead Humphries, Australia
For a government and Eu commission to remove our right to higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, shows that they have not read scientific data of the last 20 years or noted that vitamin levels in food are radically reduced from the time RDA was measured. How then can they make a decision without all the evidence at hand?
For a government and Eu commission to remove our right to higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, shows that they have not read scientific data of the last 20 years or noted that vitamin levels in food are radically reduced from the time RDA was measured. How then can they make a decision without all the evidence at hand?
# 561:
2:46 pm PST, Nov 26,
Peter Roycroft, Ireland
This is an outrageous move, based on no evidence that higher level vitamin and mineral supplements have caused health problems that in any way compare to abuse of over-the-counter drugs.
This is an outrageous move, based on no evidence that higher level vitamin and mineral supplements have caused health problems that in any way compare to abuse of over-the-counter drugs.
# 560:
2:02 pm PST, Nov 26,
Catherine Allen, Ireland
# 559:
3:32 pm PST, Nov 24,
Name not displayed, Ireland
# 558:
1:55 pm PST, Nov 24,
Name not displayed, Ireland
Putting mineral & vitamin supplements under perscription is another infringment of our rights , another test to see how far we can be pushed 7 more waste of our time fighting for what is ours! Where I live it is not possible to see a doctor unless you are dying & it's organised by phone -how stupid to put every day things under perscripition. It's a great pity the Food safety Authority don't actually do some real work & make our food safe! That is - remove the poison they allow in our food. Vitamin C is nesessary for our health red dye is proven to be harmful yet it is allowed? In a country like Ireland with its cloudy summers & grey winters vitamin & minerals are very important for our general health. Of course there is no reason why it can't be gotten under perscription AND available over the counter. If it becomes perscripition only the pure quality products will be compermised as choice will be gone. If it becomes under perscription only the cost will be to high as doctors fees will have to be paid. - not everybody gets free medicial aid. If it becomes under perscription only the unborn baby's,pregant women,the infirm & our old people will suffer greatly. Do you think people become doctors to sit & sign perscriptions that are not nesessary while ill people can't get to see the doctor because of overcrowding - Doctors become doctors so tha they can heal people not to be the lackies for the food safty authority who does not know it's job or place. So I say back off leave our supplements alone & do the job you were created for -FOOD SAFETY
Putting mineral & vitamin supplements under perscription is another infringment of our rights , another test to see how far we can be pushed 7 more waste of our time fighting for what is ours! Where I live it is not possible to see a doctor unless you are dying & it's organised by phone -how stupid to put every day things under perscripition. It's a great pity the Food safety Authority don't actually do some real work & make our food safe! That is - remove the poison they allow in our food. Vitamin C is nesessary for our health red dye is proven to be harmful yet it is allowed? In a country like Ireland with its cloudy summers & grey winters vitamin & minerals are very important for our general health. Of course there is no reason why it can't be gotten under perscription AND available over the counter. If it becomes perscripition only the pure quality products will be compermised as choice will be gone. If it becomes under perscription only the cost will be to high as doctors fees will have to be paid. - not everybody gets free medicial aid. If it becomes under perscription only the unborn baby's,pregant women,the infirm & our old people will suffer greatly. Do you think people become doctors to sit & sign perscriptions that are not nesessary while ill people can't get to see the doctor because of overcrowding - Doctors become doctors so tha they can heal people not to be the lackies for the food safty authority who does not know it's job or place. So I say back off leave our supplements alone & do the job you were created for -FOOD SAFETY
# 557:
1:41 pm PST, Nov 23,
Tara grace Griffith, Ireland
# 556:
12:09 pm PST, Nov 23,
Ana Ayme Sosa Villatoro, Ireland
# 555:
12:06 pm PST, Nov 23,
ELZBIETA LUKASIK, Poland
# 554:
12:03 pm PST, Nov 23,
Zdzislaw Lukasik, Poland
witaminy i mineraly sa potrzebne dla mojego zdrowia, choruje na choroby serca
witaminy i mineraly sa potrzebne dla mojego zdrowia, choruje na choroby serca
# 553:
11:58 am PST, Nov 23,
Lester Sosa Villatoro, Ireland
# 552:
11:54 am PST, Nov 23,
Izabela Lukasik-Sosa, Ireland
I'm nutrition therapist so I know how important are minerals and vitamins to keep people well.
I'm nutrition therapist so I know how important are minerals and vitamins to keep people well.
# 551:
11:38 am PST, Nov 23,
Kerry Fenton, United Kingdom
# 550:
6:41 am PST, Nov 23,
Con Collins, Ireland
# 549:
5:25 am PST, Nov 23,
Paul Gill, Ireland
# 548:
5:02 am PST, Nov 23,
Sally Milne, Ireland
# 547:
4:16 am PST, Nov 23,
Name not displayed, Ireland
# 546:
4:02 am PST, Nov 23,
Richard Burton, Ireland
The FSD and other directives in the pipeline from Brussels undermine the freedom of EU citizens to use nutrition to support their health and thereby reduce health care costs. Only the pharmaceutical industry stands to benefit.
The FSD and other directives in the pipeline from Brussels undermine the freedom of EU citizens to use nutrition to support their health and thereby reduce health care costs. Only the pharmaceutical industry stands to benefit.
# 545:
2:26 am PST, Nov 23,
Mel Cronin, Ireland
I urge our law-makers to prioritise health above bureaucracy and financial considerations.
I urge our law-makers to prioritise health above bureaucracy and financial considerations.
# 544:
2:16 am PST, Nov 23,
Mairead Smith, Ireland
# 543:
1:53 am PST, Nov 23,
Helen Witts, Ireland
# 542:
1:49 am PST, Nov 23,
Elouise Flannery, Ireland
please give us a chance to prevent chronic illness later on in life, I am young and take care of myself and having access to supplements are an integral part of my health regime, it's unfair to think that this "right" could be taken away from me in favour of control and profit for the pharmaceutical sector! Elouise
please give us a chance to prevent chronic illness later on in life, I am young and take care of myself and having access to supplements are an integral part of my health regime, it's unfair to think that this "right" could be taken away from me in favour of control and profit for the pharmaceutical sector! Elouise
# 541:
1:36 am PST, Nov 23,
Catherine Ryan, Ireland
I have been taking health suppliments for years and am perfectly healthy. if I had been drinking ti excess it would not be the same story. Spend the energy on cleaning up drinking and not reducing out health lifelines which we choose to take as suppliments.
I have been taking health suppliments for years and am perfectly healthy. if I had been drinking ti excess it would not be the same story. Spend the energy on cleaning up drinking and not reducing out health lifelines which we choose to take as suppliments.
# 540:
12:04 am PST, Nov 23,
Anne Rowan, Ireland
# 539:
2:55 pm PST, Nov 22,
Patricia O'Duffy, Australia
# 538:
1:26 pm PST, Nov 22,
Name not displayed, Ireland
# 537:
12:23 pm PST, Nov 22,
Vesco Bondov, Ireland
Do not regulate that which needs no regulation.
Do not regulate that which needs no regulation.
# 536:
11:59 am PST, Nov 22,
Anne Gallagher, Ireland
I have fibromyalgia for the past 8 years. I was on medication for a few years which only made me feel worse. I need the products from the health store as they have really helped me to improve my health. If this is taken from me I will be left with no hope for the future. I am very depressed at the thought of it.
I have fibromyalgia for the past 8 years. I was on medication for a few years which only made me feel worse. I need the products from the health store as they have really helped me to improve my health. If this is taken from me I will be left with no hope for the future. I am very depressed at the thought of it.
# 535:
11:34 am PST, Nov 22,
Fiona Griffin, Ireland
# 534:
11:03 am PST, Nov 22,
Alan Eagle, Ireland
# 533:
10:39 am PST, Nov 22,
Paul Lynch, Ireland
# 532:
9:37 am PST, Nov 22,
Terri Foster, Ireland
# 531:
8:44 am PST, Nov 22,
Ber Manley, Ireland
# 530:
6:17 am PST, Nov 22,
Sandra Nolan, Ireland
# 529:
12:32 am PST, Nov 22,
Anneliese Dressel, Ireland
# 528:
9:41 am PST, Nov 21,
ANNE BRUTON, Ireland
# 527:
9:38 am PST, Nov 21,
Sinead Rowland, Ireland
# 526:
8:49 am PST, Nov 21,
Anne Boyle, Ireland
# 525:
8:19 am PST, Nov 21,
Con McLoughlin, Ireland
# 524:
5:44 am PST, Nov 21,
Deirdre Doyle, Ireland
It is imperative that the food supplements directive that is recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland does not go through for the greater wellbeing of individuals.
It is imperative that the food supplements directive that is recommended by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland does not go through for the greater wellbeing of individuals.
# 523:
4:36 am PST, Nov 21,
Andrea Steel, United Kingdom
# 522:
1:50 pm PST, Nov 20,
Name not displayed, Ireland
# 521:
1:17 pm PST, Nov 20,
Mairead Fitzsimons, Ireland
It is most important to continue to allow people to retain the right to exercise freedom of choice in healthcare
It is most important to continue to allow people to retain the right to exercise freedom of choice in healthcare
# 520:
1:07 pm PST, Nov 20,
* Zentura, Wyoming
# 519:
8:47 am PST, Nov 20,
Judy O'Rourke, Ireland
# 518:
8:27 am PST, Nov 20,
Ruth Wallace, Ireland
I feel freedom of information is wonderful however I feel strongly that freedom of choice after this information is very important, thus I strongly ask that supplements and vitamins etc be continuously available and that the healthfood shop assistants or healthcare professionals continue to abide by a protocol as already in place to assist people who need more information when purchasing. If in doubt refer. I feel to have these supplements and their dosage reduced limits the access to self help and in many cases as a result self health. Please do not restrict our access to these products. Ruth
I feel freedom of information is wonderful however I feel strongly that freedom of choice after this information is very important, thus I strongly ask that supplements and vitamins etc be continuously available and that the healthfood shop assistants or healthcare professionals continue to abide by a protocol as already in place to assist people who need more information when purchasing. If in doubt refer. I feel to have these supplements and their dosage reduced limits the access to self help and in many cases as a result self health. Please do not restrict our access to these products. Ruth
# 517:
8:08 am PST, Nov 20,
Name not displayed, United Kingdom
# 516:
8:07 am PST, Nov 20,
Hilda Crampton, Ireland
# 515:
8:00 am PST, Nov 20,
Elisabeth Day, Ireland
# 514:
5:51 am PST, Nov 20,
Orla McCarthy, Ireland
# 513:
4:20 am PST, Nov 20,
Garrett Mccabe, Ireland
# 512:
4:11 am PST, Nov 20,
Sherry Boxall, Ireland
# 511:
2:49 am PST, Nov 20,
Douglas Smith, Ireland
# 510:
2:21 am PST, Nov 20,
Steve Klein, Virginia
# 509:
2:04 am PST, Nov 20,
Declan Barrett, Ireland
Yet another proposed erosion of a basic right...
Yet another proposed erosion of a basic right...
# 508:
1:52 am PST, Nov 20,
Paul Sweetman, Ireland
# 507:
12:36 am PST, Nov 20,
Name not displayed, Ireland
We should have the right to choose what levels of supplements we feel our bodies require to function at optimum levels.
We should have the right to choose what levels of supplements we feel our bodies require to function at optimum levels.
# 506:
12:31 am PST, Nov 20,
Orla Rafferty, Ireland
How dare the government try to take away our right to choose. We live in a democratic society and are entitled to the right to choose whatever level of supplements that we feel out bodies need.
How dare the government try to take away our right to choose. We live in a democratic society and are entitled to the right to choose whatever level of supplements that we feel out bodies need.
# 505:
12:09 am PST, Nov 20,
Holly Taylor, United Kingdom
As a nutritional therapist I think limiting the dosages on supplements is appalling as it is just going to make treating people more and more expensive
As a nutritional therapist I think limiting the dosages on supplements is appalling as it is just going to make treating people more and more expensive
# 504:
11:35 pm PST, Nov 19,
Louis Ryan, Ireland
# 503:
3:08 pm PST, Nov 19,
Cathriona Hodgins, Ireland
Supplements have such an important place in Irish society for common aliments like common cold, PMT, migraine.
Supplements have such an important place in Irish society for common aliments like common cold, PMT, migraine.
# 502:
1:10 pm PST, Nov 19,
Loretta Whelan, Ireland
# 501:
9:39 am PST, Nov 19,
Dolores Eagle, Ireland
Why, when the Irish Health system is in crisis, does the Irish Health Minister advise the EU to restrict levels of vitamins available to consumers,to RDA levels, which are the MINIMUM required to prevent deficiencies? Consumers, who pro-actively take responsibility for their health and well being, should be encouraged, not restricted.
Why, when the Irish Health system is in crisis, does the Irish Health Minister advise the EU to restrict levels of vitamins available to consumers,to RDA levels, which are the MINIMUM required to prevent deficiencies? Consumers, who pro-actively take responsibility for their health and well being, should be encouraged, not restricted.
