The Australian Federal Court has cleared the way for a class action
by Australian consumers against the vitamin producers already found
guilty of price fixing in Europe and the US.
Despite fierce lobbying which at one stage caused the European
Parliament's email system to crash, MEPs yesterday voted to approve
plans for a tightening of the safety controls for vitamin
supplements.
Australia's pharmaceutical watchdog, the Therapeutic Goods
Administration (TGA), has issued a consumer alert about the
possibility of liver toxicity associated with the use of kava.
The European Commission has issued a strong statement denouncing
claims in many UK newspapers yesterday that the proposed new rules
for vitamin supplements would push thousands of companies out of
business.
Tomorrow will see the second reading of the European Union's draft
proposals for a directive on food supplements, sparking a new round
of condemnation from supplement manufacturers and retailers across
the Community.
Over 100 organic farms in the UK could be at risk of being tainted
by genetically modified crop test sites, according to research by
an organic farming group.
Three national trade associations representing dietary supplement
producers are about to be established and join IADSA, the
International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplements Associations.
Following the news earlier this week that scientists in the UK are
calling for elderly Britons to increase their intake of folic acid,
the country's Food Standards Agency (FSA) is to chair an open
meeting on the issue.
Italy has become the first country to ban the use of the
anti-obesity drug sibutramine, prompting fears that other European
countries will follow suit. The drug is sold as Reductil in Italy.
The UK Food Standard Agency (FSA) is considering banning the use of
sheep offal in food products as part of a number of measures
designed to combat the risk of vCJD, the human brain disease linked
to BSE in cattle.
A former baseball star who made false and deceptive claims for a
weight-loss product is being sued by the Federal Trade Commission
this week for $1.1 million.
In what could be a serious blow to the organic food industry, new
research claims that the trend away from pesticide use in fruit and
vegetables could be putting our health at serious risk.
Research into food label design shows that consumers check the
calorie and fat content first on food labels, and while they
understand the term 'trace,' they confuse the terms sodium and
salt.
The Norwegian government has reportedly given up its long-running
fight against the EU regulations permitting the addition of
minerals, vitamins and amino acids to baby food.
