BMJ  2005;331:180 (23 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7510.180-d

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European court upholds restriction on sale of food supplements

Brussels Rory Watson

The European Union’s highest court has upheld proposed restrictions on the sale of food supplements—a setback to critics of the legislation, who claim that it would ban hundreds of popular vitamin pills.

The legislation, which was approved three years ago, establishes a list of vitamins and minerals that may be used in food supplements and lays down criteria on labelling to ensure that consumers are better informed about their contents.

The measures are designed to maintain a high level of protection of public health and to enable approved supplements to be sold throughout the EU. Previously, different national regulations meant that many products could be sold in some countries but not others.

Under the new rules, which will come into force on 1 August, only dietary supplements on the approved list may go on sale. However, any products that were already on the market before July 2002 . . . [Full text of this article]


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