With today’s signing into law of the European Union’s (EU’s) long-delayed Community list of generic health claims on foods and food ingredients, approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), one of the most important questions that arises is: what are the potential implications of the Community list?
Free speech decimated
During our campaign for a veto of the Community list earlier this year, we spent quite some time explaining why the Community list as it stood – and stands, given the European Commission’s inflexibility on the issue – is an incredibly bad idea. To summarise: we believe that the EFSA-approved list represents the most serious infringement on free speech that we’ve ever come across, both within and outside the healthcare sphere.
Six months from today, over 90% of the health-related information on foods and ingredients will abruptly disappear from the EU marketplace. And, as if that weren’t bad enough, Commission officials reckon that the number of approved health claims will hardly be swelled by approved claims for botanicals – phytonutrients being essential for human health.
Health claims crystal ball
Fortunately, there are ongoing moves in the European Parliament to reduce the worst effects of the Community list. We’ll bring you news of those moves as soon as we can – but, in the meantime, we’ve cast some runes and looked into the office crystal ball in an attempt to see where all this is leading. We realise this is something of a departure for ANH-Intl, but as a campaign organisation we’re always trying to find new ways of communicating with the people who really matter: you, the public. A slightly ironic piece of near-science fiction is not something we’ve tried before, but we think it’s a novel way of illustrating what this legislation could mean, on an individual level.
We hope you like it, and we’d love to hear your thoughts!
So: meet our fictitious character Joe, who lives in a high-rise flat in the year 2050, just 38 years from now. After an overheard conversation in a cafe, he’s beginning to wonder why his health isn’t all it could be – and he’s looking for answers...
Read the short story.
Comments
your voice counts
Anonymous
17 May 2012 at 11:35 am
Smashing little story. How about inviting readers to contribute stories of their own.
C. A. Koelliker
17 May 2012 at 2:54 pm
A very scary scenario. However, if one woman can change a terrible situation in one country - Leymah Gbowee, Peace Nobel Prize winner 2011, who got the women in her country to sit for peace - then we can also bring about a change by not being such 'law abiding citizens'. Let them sue us, and let them spend their money on proving that natural health foods/supplements/herbs negatively affect our health and well being. Let us continue to have food be our medicine!
Oliver Dowding http://www.tonicattack.com/
19 May 2012 at 12:59 pm
I can hardly believe the lawmakers have been able to get away with this, despite all our efforts to lobby against it.
Corporate control of our health is getting worse! Well done ANH for leading the campaign, but we now need to follow through, such as by supporting anyone prepared to battle and resist the controls.
I have too much experience of the oppression, including 2.5 years being taken to a VAT tribunal as HMRC insisted wheatgrass juice was a drink not food - I won and then spent 1.5 years fighting for my costs (they put "cost-recovery agents" onto me immediately and ensured I only got 66% of my costs! Then I have had our local Trading Standards people crawling all over my website regularly. I think I attracted their attention when someone put them onto me as I campaign for homoeopathy. Grrrr....!
Keep up the good fight!
RexJohn
22 July 2014 at 2:17 pm
It is hard to imagine a world without health information. Health is the most important aspect of life and it is up to the authorities as well as each individual to have an up-to-date knowledge on these facts.
Your voice counts
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