Guess Who is Going to Water Down Your Vitamins? Bill Sardi Archives

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Guess Who is Going to Water Down Your Vitamins?

 

by Bill Sardi

 

Guess who is soon going to dictate the dosage of vitamins and minerals

you can purchase?

 

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration? Nope.

 

The National Institutes of Health? Nope.

 

The National Research Council/ National Academy of Sciences? Nope.

 

How about foreign dictocrats at the United Nations and the World

Health Organization? Yep, and it's all being done under the name of

free trade " harmonization, " in a so-called attempt to preserve U.S.

vitamin manufacturers sales to foreign countries.

 

According to guidelines just released by the U.S. CODEX delegation, as

part of treaties under the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade

(GATT), which would be binding upon all members of the World Trade

Organization (WTO), foreign " experts " would dictate to American

companies the maximum amount of vitamins and minerals that can be

placed in food supplements. Foreign manufacturers could challenge the

WTO that more potent U.S.-made brands represent unfair competition.

Since many foreign countries already restrict the dosage of vitamins

and minerals in food supplements, the new guidelines are likely to be

used to water down the dosage of U.S-made brands so that foreign

companies can compete with U.S. manufacturers.

 

Currently, many foreign travelers covet U.S.-made food supplements and

bring them back to their native lands because of their high quality

and maximum dosage. This would all change under the guidelines just

released by the U.S. CODEX delegation (July 2002). U.S. food

supplement manufacturers would likely lose their prime position in the

world marketplace. Oddly, CODEX claims its guidelines have been

drafted to protect U.S. manufacturers and consumers.

 

CODEX Guidelines Legally Binding

 

The CODEX guidelines, while voluntary for the moment, are potentially

binding. Some three years ago The Center for Science In The Public

Interest (CSPI) submitted written objections concerning CODEX

guidelines which could be used to weaken food safety laws in the U.S.,

such as permitting products with undesirable trans fatty acids to be

labeled as " low fat foods, " forcing un-Pasteurized milk on U.S.

consumers and allowing imported bottled waters to be labeled as

" mineral water " when they provides less minerals than tap water.

[international Harmonization of Food Safety and Labeling Standards,

Center for Science in the Public Interest, June 1997] CSPI cited

numerous international trade agreements and codes which could be used

to enforce standards upon U.S. manufacturers of food products and now

on food supplements. The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body could impose

trade sanctions on industries unrelated to food supplements which

could cause Congress to buckle and give in to restrictions on food

supplements.

 

Upper Limits Being Established

 

CODEX guidelines attempt to establish upper limits on the dosage of

food supplements. " Upper limit " is defined as " the maximum level of

daily nutrient intake that is unlikely to pose risks of adverse health

effects to almost all of the individuals in the group for whom it is

designed. " While the upper limit on vitamins appears to be established

to protect consumers from potential side effects from over-dosage, the

very establishment of maximum dosage would likely be misunderstood by

the public. Food supplement companies would be required to list the

maximum dosage permitted on their labels and would be compelled to

limit the actual recommended dosage of vitamins and minerals. Printing

upper limits on food supplement labels would likely scare many

consumers away from these products. Consumers may falsely believe the

maximum level is the toxic level and consume much smaller amounts,

fearing serious side effects. But the upper limit would have a

built-in safety factor many times below any toxicity.

 

Furthermore, many of the reported side effects from mega-dose vitamins

and minerals are often transient (such as diarrhea), non-life

threatening (such as headache) and are reversible. But U.S. consumers

would have no way of determining the severity of any potential side

effects. A maximum dose limit on a particular supplement may help

prevent something as innocuous as nausea occurring in a small

percentage of subjects.

 

False Assumption Of Safety

 

Another false assumption that could emanate from the establishment of

upper limits is that food supplements are safe when taken in dosages

below the maximum limit. Actually, minerals such as iron, taken in

doses under the proposed maximum limits, could pose long-term problems

for unsuspecting consumers. For example, full-grown males and

post-menopausal females should avoid supplemental iron.

 

Another Non-Problem That Needs Fixing

 

Yet another criticism of the CODEX guidelines is the false assumption

that there are thousands of cases of serious side effects emanating

from over-dosage of food supplements and that the public needs

immediate protection. The U.S. CODEX delegation approved language that

mistakenly cited selenium and vitamin A could harm consumers when

consumed in large amounts. In fact, never have vitamin A or selenium

supplements ever been reported to cause a death and only a few

reversible side effects. While only some 30 to 40 adults annually

experience liver toxicity from taking excessive amounts of vitamin A,

the FDA continues to warn adults of vitamin A toxicity when millions

of Americans suffer frank deficiencies of this vitamin.

 

Vitamin and mineral supplements are far safer than aspirin and

ibuprofen (which cause thousands of cases of stomach ulcers and death

from hemorrhage annually), acetaminophen (causes 70,000+ cases of

liver toxicity annually and a few hundred deaths yearly), chlorinated

tap water (causes 20,000+ new cases of bladder and kidney cancer

annually), table salt (contributes to millions of cases of

hypertension that can lead to strokes), and aspartame artificial

sweetener (produces thousands of reports of adverse effects annually),

all which are over-the-counter items like food supplements.

 

Take Only On The Advice Of An Expert

 

Another guideline proposed by the U.S. CODEX delegation is to require

labeling that would urge consumers to take supplements only on the

advice of a physician, dietician and nutritionist. In the past, at the

statewide level lobbyists for certified clinical nutritionists have

unsuccessfully attempted to restrict store clerks from advising people

on the use of food supplements, a restriction that may violate the

freedom of speech. Yet the U.S. CODEX delegation included this

provision in its recent guidelines.

 

Is A Good Diet All You Need To Stay Healthy?

 

The CODEX Draft continued to spread the mistaken idea that all the

public needs to maintain health is a good diet. While food supplements

do not replace meals, still less than 1 in 5 Americans consume the

recommended five to seven servings of fresh fruits and vegetables

daily. An estimated 8 in 10 Americans are short on magnesium, 4 in 10

are deficient in vitamin D and vitamin B12, and virtually all humans

suffer from a genetic mutation that blocks the natural conversion of

blood sugars into vitamin C that most animals exhibit.

 

Many Americans may still remain deficient in essential vitamins and

minerals even when taking these nutrients at the maximum recommended

dosage. For example, because of their dark skin pigmentation, blacks

may be deficient in vitamin D, especially blacks who live at northern

latitudes (ultraviolet sun rays produce vitamin D via skin exposure).

They may experience diminished immunity and weakened bones. The

proposed upper limit for vitamin D, 2000 units, may not be sufficient

for blacks living in cloudy northern climates during the winter

months. Currently the FDA restricts the dosage of vitamin D in food

supplements to 2000 units over unfounded fears of liver toxicity when

a recent study showed vitamin D toxicity doesn't begin till 40,000

units are consumed daily over a long period of time.

 

Costs Would Rise

 

If upper limits on food supplements are established then consumers who

still want to consume higher doses of certain supplemental vitamins or

minerals would be required to take more pills which would of course

raise the cost to consumers.

 

CODEX Disregards Congress

 

In 1998 Congressman Ron Paul wrote the U.S. Food & Drug

Administration, which provides the impetus for CODEX, to withdraw

portions of the proposed CODEX guidelines which committed the United

States to adoption of upper safe limits on vitamins and minerals,

reminding the FDA that Congress explicitly forbid the FDA from

harmonizing any of its regulations regarding food supplements with

other countries. Instead, the FDA and the U.S. CODEX delegation

disregarded the wishes of Congress and moved ahead with the CODEX

guidelines which were recently re-released with edits (July 2002), but

still contained provisions for upper limits and other restrictions.

 

Vitamins have been a hot political issue in the past. More letters

have been received by Congress on vitamins than any other issue on

Capitol Hill. It's time to the public to pull out their pens once again.

 

August 19, 2002

 

Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a health journalist who dabbles from

time to time into current events. He is the author of the book The

Iron Time Bomb. His website is www.askbillsardi.com.

 

2002 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas,

California. Not for commercial reproduction without permission of the

author.

 

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