Alliance for Natural Health

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The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) was founded in 2002 by Dr Robert Verkerk and is based in the UK.

Contents

Legal challenge to European Union Food Supplements Directive

In 2004, along with two British trade associations, ANH had a legal challenge to the European Union's Food Supplements Directive [1] referred to the European Court of Justice by the High Court in London. [2] Although the European Court of Justice's Advocate General subsequently said that the EU's plan to tighten rules on the sale of vitamins and food supplements should be scrapped, [3] he was eventually overruled by the European Court, which decided that the measures in question were necessary and appropriate for the purpose of protecting public health. ANH, however, interpreted the ban as applying only to synthetically produced supplements - and not to vitamins and minerals normally found in or consumed as part of the diet. [4] Nevertheless, the European judges did acknowledge the Advocate General's concerns, stating that there must be clear procedures to allow substances to be added to the permitted list based on scientific evidence. They also said that any refusal to add a product to the list must be open to challenge in the courts.[5]

Ideology

The Alliance believes that negative media publicity about nutrients such as vitamin E are merely a result of misinterpretations over the science. [6] It also criticises the latest research proposing vitamin C supplementation does not protect against the common cold as having a number of fundamental flaws. [7]

Dr Verkerk, the Alliance's Executive Director, has gone on record as saying that bad diets and lack of exercise could create a cancer timebomb for the future and that junk food should be taxed like cigarettes. He also argues that people should be encouraged to look after themselves so that the fewer visits they make to their doctor, the less insurance they pay.[8] Following a Cochrane Collaboration review which found that some antioxidant vitamin supplements may shorten lifespan, Verkerk was quoted as having "found a range of faults" with it.[9] Speaking at the inaugural "Scientific Research in Homeopathy" conference held by the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) at the University of Westminster in June 2008, Verkerk said that it was "utterly inappropriate" to use randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to assess homoeopathy and other complementary medicines, arguing that "as soon as you put someone into a trial situation, you destroy many of the effects that exist between patient and practitioner."[10]

Award

In May 2008 Verkerk received an award, presented at the 39th Anniversary of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights United Kingdom (CCHR), in recognition of his “work to expose the multinational pharmaceutical interests and giant food companies to limit the public's access to herbs”.[11]

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ EU Food Supplements Directive
  2. ^ 'Court victory for vitamin firms' BBC News Published 30 January 2004. Accessed 29 April 2007.
  3. ^ 'EU health foods crackdown 'wrong BBC News. Published 5 April 2005. Accessed 29 April 2007.
  4. ^ 'Vitamin controls backed by Europe' BBC News. Published 12 July 2005. Accessed 29 April 2007.
  5. ^ 'EU court backs health supplements ban' The Guardian Published 12 July 2005. Accessed 6 October 2007.
  6. ^ High dose vitamin E death warning BBC News, quoted from statement of Dr Rob Verkerk, Executive Director of the Alliance for Natural Health. Published 11 Nov 2004. Accessed 30 Sept 2007.
  7. ^ Vitamin C campaigners support supplements Nursing in Practice. Published 19 July 2007. Accessed 30 Sept 2007.
  8. ^ Laughter key to long life The Sun newspaper, UK. Published 17 November 2005. Accessed 28 March 2008.
  9. ^ Your Health: Are vitamins good or bad? New Straights Times, Malaysia. Published 3 May 2008. Accessed 10 May 2008.
  10. ^ 'Homoeopaths label scientists the 'new fundamentalists' The Times newspaper, UK. Published 26 June 2008. Accessed 3 August, 2008.
  11. ^ ANH founder recognized for natural health campaign Natural Products Magazine. Published 19 May 2008. Accessed 31 May 2008.

Wikipedia content modification information:

  • This page was last modified on 3 August 2008, at 11:51.

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