ANH-USA recently shared with you our hard won victory for dietary supplements in an amendment to the still to be voted on Senate FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510). After working for several months with our champions in the senate, supplements were exempted from language in the Food Safety bill that likely would have created a slippery slope toward US harmonization with irrationally restrictive standards under the global Codex Alimentarius.
A friend of ours recently brought to our attention a message on the Internet. This message claimed that ANH-USA had misrepresented what had happened. It asserted that, “The actual (dietary supplement) exemption language had already been in this particular bill for some time now, due to the efforts of several organizations and many individuals; so, sadly, no real victory should have been claimed.”
This was written by a congressional lobbyist who should have known better how Congress works. The dietary supplement exemption language that ANH-USA worked for was inserted using a “technical amendment”. This means it has been put into the engrossed version of the bill, originally published in December. For those that are not in the know and have not been following the process, it would appear that the language was inserted back in December. Actually, this language was inserted just a few weeks ago. We know because it was our initiative. We worked hard behind the scenes to have this language included and we reported to you on our success as soon as it happened.
This amendment is a critical victory in our fight to save supplements. It does not mean that we support the food safety legislation. We do not. The House version of the bill, far worse than the Senate’s, has already been passed and the House will try to get its provisions into a final bill to be passed by both the House and Senate. We need to do everything possible to defeat the ill advised and dangerous House provisions in particular and will report to you further as the story unfolds.
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Thanks, Alliance for Health- you are in our prayers- Keep up the good fight!!
I told my story how netruient’s saved me from hell ! Many Times !
Congratulations on your good work and attention to detail. It is appreciated. I believe we are witnessing the last gasps of the dying paradigm, which is a partnership of special interests consisting of Big Pharma, FDA, & FTC at the least. This doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous to our health, just that they are fighting to hold onto a stronghold which inevitably will slip away at some moment in time. May it happen sooner than later!
I think your organization should give a detailed outline, explanation, and the history of Codex Alimentaruis. I’ve researched it and listened to a few lectures about it as well, but I don’t feel I understand it completely. Most of the things I found about it were particularly biased. Where can I find an accurate description of it along the fine print?
Codex Alimentarius is a complicated issue. With so much disinformation about Codex available on the internet, it’s difficult to know what to believe. Working with our Scientific Director, Dr. Rob Verkerk, ANH-USA answers all of your questions, including whether it will affect your supplements, what’s going on in Europe, and what are the real U.S. policy concerns.
Here’s the short answer. Codex will not affect U.S. domestic policy today or tomorrow. But it is a genuine threat for the future. Codex standards will very likely reflect highly restrictive European standards. And once enacted, there will be a strong push from the FDA and others to try to “harmonize” world regulations around Codex. Moreover, Codex will be a standard for the World Trade Organization, and could influence some of their decisions, which are binding on member states.
For more information on the Codex Alimentarius from a U.S. perspective see our website here. http://www.anh-usa.org/main-menu/campaigns/codex-international-standards/
For the best information on the history and details of Codex please visit ANH-Europe http://anh-europe.org/campaigns/codex
Jonas Blume’s question above was in response to a story explaining why our previous report on removing dangerous Codex language in the Senate Food Safety Bill was 100% accurate.
Do NOT touch my ability to suppliment my diet please!! With all of the processed foods in this country, approved by the FDA I might add, I should be givin the right to suppliment as I choose!! How many more freedoms are you going to try to steal from the American people!!!! I cannot stand how much power you asserting in the House and Senate and I plan to vote against all of you!!
Thanks for clearing this up, but my question is why are groups who are out for the same thing squabbling over this minutia, instead of working together.
The consumer doesn’t really care, nor will they even remember what group got this done. It was done by thousands of consumers writing to their reps. in Congress with your groups leading–what is all the fuss about?
If this bickering doesn’t stop, the consumer will simply throw their hands up and say, “I quit”. Please do what you can to end this derision.
The problem is that Rima is using the idea of assaults on our health freedom to solicit for oodles of money. She continually pains a dire picture of impending doom and herself (and her husband) as the only opportunity for saving things. Unfortunately, she gets the story wrong much of the time and is acting like a bull in a china shop. While her ability to get people fired up is impressive, she’s taken a page from the FOX playbook and thrown honesty out the window to make things as inflammatory as possible and get people into a tizzy. It sure gets people to read but doesn’t do anything for the truth.
I sure hope the people investing in her Costa Rica eco-village (maybe just her personal vacation spa?) don’t end up taking a bath on the money they give her.
Great question! We couldn’t agree more. Supporters of health freedom and natural health need to get together and work together, not squabble.
That is one reason we merged with ANH-Europe to form ANH-International. We hope to merge with additional organizations in the future. It doesn’t matter under whose name we work so long as we work together and maintain the highest standards of integrity.
In this case, we did have to respond to a critic. Why? Because this individual was falsely accusing us of misrepresentating the facts. Honesty is all important to us. We wanted you to know that our story was 100% accurate and why.
We are proud of our work in excluding supplements from the Codex language in the Senate Food Safety Bill. But we are even prouder of always sticking to the facts and telling you the truth and thereby earning your support. Sticking to the facts, telling the truth, and staying united are the chief weapons that will enable us to overcome the powerful special interests arrayed against natural health in Washington and state capitals.
Be aware that they are using similar tactics in the State Legislatures. They just outlawed Sassafras oil in Pa., based on the fact that Safrole (present in small quantity in the root bark) can be used as a precurser for Methanphetemine. There is not enough of it in trees here to make it worthwhile to extract for that purpose. The law could result in the powdered root bark becoming unavailable. (maybe even File’ as in file’ gumbo) The Bill is SB126, and the governor may have signed it by now. This started as a bill to assign clean up costs to the operators of illicit meth labs.
Big Pharma are working overtime…here (Canada) just as well. Unfortunately, as far as I know, we are not organized and have no leader in this battle.
What I can say about supplements….if I hadn’t come in contact with an angel of a doctor 11 years ago, I would have been 6 feet under long time ago…with their “medicine” (and I use this term loosely) that I was been fed by other “doctors”. I call these doctors “pharmaceutical employees”. It has taken good 8 years of my life to regain my health back.
Friends, the only good thing about the world we all live in is the dawning realization that if we but organise and take initiative, we can stop the ‘bidness as usual’ types from continuing to eat the big slices. Whether or health and welfare, our environment, our liberty, we must act together, and we must redouble our efforts to do so, and remain committed to continuing to do so with fortitude and perseverance. The wastrels work continuously to take, leaving not us, but our children holding the bag. If this is what is meant by bickering, we cannot leave it lie here.
Perhaps some of the confusion is that an earlier exempltion was inserted – but it appears that exemption appeared in the Hazard Analysis section and the exemption applied only to that section. This exemption is clearly more encompassing and is a definite win for those of us that want to protect our rights to choose dietary supplements as part of a daily health maintenance plan. Excuse me if I prefer to take actions that will prevent me from spending thousands of dollars on prescription drugs!
5/19/10 PLEASE DON’T TRY TO PREVENT ME FROM PURCHASING MY VITAMINS!!! wHEN YOU’RE TRYING TO DO THIS, YOU’RE WALKING ON THE FIGHTING SIDE OF ME. THESE VITAMINS AND HERBS ARE THINGS THAT GOD CREATED!!! LEAVE THEM ALONE!!!
5/19/10 when you’re trying to prevent me from purchasing my vitamins, YOU’RE WALKING ON THE FIGHTING SIDE OF ME!!! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT YOU WOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO TO KEEP ME FROM ANYTHING THAT GOD HAS CREATED?
Thanks, Alliance for Health- you are in our prayers- Keep up the good fight!!