Consumers for Health Choice

This article is part of the Foodspin project of Spinwatch.

Consumers for Health Choice, set up in 1996 claims to be "an independent (non-profit making) consumer organisation with 11,000 members in the UK, and over 267,000 supporters on its database." . The members of CHC are "consumer organisations and practitioner organisations, companies and individuals"

The Whitehouse Consultancy provides 'political advice' for the CHC. CHC has offices in London and Brussels.

CHC, according to Sue Croft has been set up "to monitor possible adverse legislation coming from Brussels that might affect the rights of consumers to take responsibility for their own health without the use of pharmaceutical drugs".

In 2005 the CHC played a prominent role in lobbying against the EU Food Supplements Directive on banning certain food supplements. Previosly most herbal remedies were available in Britain under Section 12 of the 1968 Medicines Act as "medicines exempt from licensing". The directive required that manufacturers provide evidence that their products are safe before they are given a licence. . One of the arguments used to oppose the Directive is that consumers would be denied the freedom of choice and that their health can be extremely damaged and therefore CHC has been established to defend consumers' right to buy food supplements. The food supplement retailers and manufacturers who run the CHC are pretending to be the voice of the consumer. The CHC website provides a sample of the letter to be send to MPs or MEPs in support of their campaign.

The campaign to lobby against the Directive was supported by the Conservative Party. It's aim was to "put pressure on the Government to step in and get the right deal in Brussels". The party's website mentions CHC as a partner in "saving our supplements".

Board of Directors

• Michael J Peet, Chairman
• Sue Croft, Director
• Melanie Hickey, Director
• Steve Ryan, Director
• Melvyn Stevens, Director
• Gareth Zeal, Director

Affiliations

British Health Foods Manufacturers Association

Alliance For Natural Health

Bristol Cancer Help Centre

British Society for Nutritional Medicine

Hyperactive Children's Support Group

Institute for Complementary Medicine

Foresight

Mayday - the National Society for Research into Allergies.

'Save our Supplements'

In January 2010, CHC chairman Michael J Peet encouraged consumers and 'small and medium-sized businesses in the specialist sector' in Malta to join the group's campaign by writing to the country's European Commissioner Designate, John Dalli 'to urge him to protect consumer choice in the setting of maximum permitted levels under the provisions of this [The Food Supplements Directive] legislation.' In an article written in the Times of Malta, Peet informed readers that Dalli's position would make him responsible for the health portfolio (DG SANCO) within the European Commission creating 'an excellent opportunity for him to influence the current debate on the availability of safe and popular higher potency vitamin and mineral supplements which are under threat from burdensome European legislation.' According to Peet:

'Recent warnings from the Commission are that consumers around Europe can expect to be denied access to many safe and popular higher potency supplements which they currently choose in order to achieve and maintain optimum health.'

'We have supporters in all 27 European member states, including Malta, and are calling upon Commissioner Dalli to ensure that the Commission abandons plans for a disproportionately restrictive interpretation of this legislation and instead to propose figures which do not unnecessarily restrict access to safe and popular products around Europe.'

'The difficulty which the Commission faces is that Article 5 of the Directive requires maximum permitted levels for nutrients in food supplements to be set "taking into account" a number of factors, but it does not indicate what "taking into account" actually means. Thus the Article is open to flexible interpretation.'

'The Commission acknowledges that it is under pressure from some member states, including France and Germany, to propose restrictive levels, whereas other member states such as the United Kingdom are pressing for a more liberal and proportionate interpretation which does not deny consumer choice or lead to the closure of the manufacturers and retailers of specialist products.'

Resources

• MHRA: CONSULTATION ON PROPOSED HERBAL MEDICINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE