Opinions differ on value or harm of Codex guidelines

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) will meet in Rome, July 4-9, to vote on the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements, which were adopted last November by the Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses. A number of organizations have researched Codex and have expressed opinions about the adoption of these guidelines as standards.

Codex was created in 1963 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nation’s World Health Organization (WHO). Codex’s stated purpose is to develop food standards, guidelines and related texts to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair trade practices in the food trade, and to promote coordination of all food standards work undertaken by international governmental and non-governmental organizations. To date, the committee has established about 250 standards.

The guidelines, as written, apply only to supplements that contain vitamins and/or minerals, in countries where these products are regulated as foods. According to the FDA, the guidelines address the safety of supplements and do not specify upper limits for vitamins and minerals.

Mixed reactions

The FDA paper “Responses to Questions about Codex and Dietary Supplements” (www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dscodex.html) says, “Some [consumers] are concerned that these guidelines … will restrict consumers’ access to the wide range of vitamin and mineral supplements of varying potencies legally sold in the United States. … We hope the responses below help you understand why the adoption of the [guidelines] by Codex will not restrict U.S. consumers’ access … or impose any restrictions that go beyond those established by U.S. law.”

The Codex guidelines have generated a mixed reaction from the dietary supplement industry. The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), a trade organization representing ingredient suppliers and manufacturers in the dietary supplement industry, has come out in favor of adoption of the guidelines.

In a paper entitled “Myths and Facts on Codex and WTO,” John Hathcock, CRN’s vice president of scientific and international affairs, states: “Since the November 2004 meeting [when the guidelines were recommended], the Internet and e-mails have been flooded with allegations that the World Trade Organization is going to ‘take away your vitamins.’ CRN believes that these claims are inaccurate…”

CRN published its “Myths and Facts” paper online at www.crnusa.org.

The American Herbal Products Association, the trade association of the herbal products industry, has also published a paper on Codex, available on its Web site, www.ahpa.org/. The paper provides detailed information on Codex, along with a quick reference guide, which states, in part:

• The effect of these guidelines is that the United States (and all countries in Codex) will be required to allow the import of all vitamin and mineral supplements that conform to the new guidelines;
• Codex can affect a country’s domestic laws by forcing them to be relaxed, but only if those laws are more restrictive than a Codex standard;
• The Codex vitamin and mineral guidelines will not have a direct or immediate effect on U.S. domestic law, since U.S. law is less restrictive than these guidelines;
• The rights of American consumers are protected by DSHEA — and only the U.S. Congress can amend U.S. laws.

A consumer organization, American Holistic Health Association (AHHA), has come out against the guidelines. AHHA President Suzan Walter writes in a paper posted to the organization’s Web site (www.ahha.org), “Under Codex authority, the guidelines are optional suggestions, not a mandatory trade standard … However, there are agreements between Codex and the World Trade Organization that allow the WTO to use Codex documents … as mandatory international trade standards to settle trade disputes.”

One supplement manufacturer, A.C. Grace Company, has also come out against the guidelines. Matthew Armstrong, general manager of A.C. Grace, says, “While many people believe the FDA when they say that Codex is not an issue, the reality is that the ‘supplements are dangerous’ propaganda is preparing the public for restrictive legislation on dietary supplements that will harmonize U.S. law with international standards set by Codex this year and the years to come.

Armstrong delivers an audio presentation on Codex, available on the Web at www.acgraceco.com/emergency.htm.

Sources: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, www.cfsan.fda.gov; Council for Responsible Nutrition, www.crnusa.org; American Holistic Health Association, www.ahha.org; A.C. Grace Co., http://www.acgraceco.com

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