Codex: Should you be worried?

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, or Codex, was created in 1963 by two U.N. organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Health Organization. Its main purpose is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in international trade in food through the development of food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations.

Concerned Neways Distributors have asked many questions and raised many concerns over Codex. In fact, a quote from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website sums up the issue quite nicely:

“Many U.S. consumers have expressed concerns about the development of the Codex Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements. Some are concerned that these Guidelines, if adopted by Codex, will restrict consumers’ access to the wide range of vitamin and mineral supplements of varying potencies legally sold in the United States. Others are concerned that the Guidelines will limit the amount and type of information on the labels of dietary supplements sold in the United States. Still others believe that the Guidelines will require dietary supplements to be sold as drugs in the United States.”

Thankfully, the adoption of Draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements by Codex will not restrict U.S. consumers’ access to vitamin and mineral supplements or impose any restrictions that go beyond those established by U.S. law. For a brief, but extremely helpful summary of the situation, Neways Distributors are encouraged to read the document on the FDA website: http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dscodex.html.

Here are a few key points from the site:

1. Codex standards and related texts are voluntary; member countries are not bound by or required to adopt them.
    
2. The U.S. supports consumer choice and access to dietary supplements that are safe and labeled in a truthful and non-misleading manner. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) ensures that a broad array of dietary supplements are available to U.S. consumers. The Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements will not, in any way, affect the availability of supplement products to U.S. consumers.
    
3. There is no basis for the concern that the Codex Guidelines on Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements would require dietary supplements be sold as prescription drugs in the United States.

Please take time to read the entire document online as it provides some excellent information about Codex.