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GLOBAL NEWS Hydrology in Merlewood, Cumbria. CHALLENGE TO EU BAN ON VITAMIN & MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS The big story is the massive differences lhe London-based Alliance of Natural Health (ANH) is set to mount a legal challenge between the impacts that the three Crops to the contentious EU Food Supplements Directive (FSD). The FSD was passed conventional or GM—had on wildlife. In | into European law in July 2002 and effectively put a ban on 300 nutrients included in many cases, these differences dwarfed | 5 990 health products, most of which are in dietary supplements closest to food forms. those between a GM crop and its conven- In July 2003, the British House of Commons Standing Committee for FSD tional variety. For instance, researchers | Regulations met and voted the FSD into English, Scottish and Welsh law. Dr Robert collected an average of 1,707 beetles overa | Verkerk, Executive Director of the ANH, hopes a successful challenge will result in the year in conventional beet fields, marginally | RSD being overturned by all EU states. ahead of the 1,576 found in GM beet fields. The ANH represents the interests of a number of organisations as well as independent Yet this is more than double the number of _ | manufacturers, suppliers and distributors of vitamins and minerals. Together they sug- beetles found in GM or conventional gest the existing Directive be replaced with a revised FSD that allows for high-quality maize, and 50 to 60 per cent more than the | supplements across the whole of Europe. This would effectively harmonise good stan- number found in rape. Maize, whose GM _| dards, not bad ones. variety was better for wildlife than its con- Three other Directives concerning Herbal Medicine, Novel Foods and EU Medicines ventional counterpart, turned out to be _| are under consideration, but have not yet been ratified into UK law. The appropriation worst for wildlife overall on many counts. of traditional products is likely to increase, with food supplements, food substances and (Source: New Scientist, 25 October 2003) food beverages (health drinks and fruit juices) that are suppressed by EU Directives being repackaged as "Nutraceuticals" and sold by pharmaceutical companies. ARNIE ANOINTED BY THE ELITE? Two Labour MPs have voiced concerns about the way the Regulations were voted Conte this Reuters news item from _ | through by the Standing Committee. Kate Hoey, MP, revealed what happened: "I was a over a year ago... member of this committee until I said, very honestly, that I would vote against the regu- The world's second-richest man dropped _| lations." She was, together with five other MPs, "unceremoniously removed" from the into the English countryside with the | committee the night before the vote and replaced with MPs who would vote in favour of Terminator at his side on Monday, a day the FSD. According to Kate Hoey, this gives a clear message that the government cares after warning the UK's corporate big game _ | more for the pharmaceutical industry than it does about ordinary people. Her views are his elephant gun was loaded. shared by Jeremy Corbyn, MP, who said: "The FSD is a product of ruthless lobbying Billionaire Warren Buffett and mean- tactics by the pharmaceutical industry which is not keen on the diversity of supply of machine Arnold Schwarzenegger touched vitamin supplements available in health food shops." He backs the ANH move. down by helicopter on the immaculate Legal challenges have seldom been made to the 40,000 EU Directives implemented lawns of Waddesdon Manor, a_ | Since the UK joined the Common Market in 1972, ostensibly to share in the Common Renaissance-style chateau in the undulating Agricultural Policy (CAP). But Conservative MP Daniel Hannan complained to the hills of Buckinghamshire. Daily Telegraph on 3 September that "whenever you see an apparently insane Brussels Directive, someone, somewhere, stands to gain". And in his view, the Directives affect- ing natural remedies were the result of lobbying by the large pharmaceutical companies. MEP Nigel Farrage said that, on one occasion, MEPs were required to vote on Directives 450 times in one 80-minute session. He freely admitted that it was a farce, and he voted as he was told. Simply to question the validity of food supplementation is no longer enough when it is generally acknowledged that modern food production methods and deterioration of soil due to intensive farming are affecting vitamin and mineral content in food. For example, levels of the mineral selenium (Se) declined 50% between 1974 and 1991, and in the UK population selenium levels are lower than in many other European countries. Fourteen forms of selenium, including the organic forms, selenium yeast and selenomethionine, are forbidden on The Positive List, a list of permissible nutrients designated by the EU Commission. Specialist vitamin manufacturers have expressed concern that their products containing organic ingredients, excluded from the List, are being compromised by synthetic or inorganic equivalents that are on the List. All attempts to include a number of organic vitamins and minerals have been refused. Not only that, but to register their high-quality products for sale could cost up to £250,000 per nutrient plus evidence of their safety. All nutrients must be paid for and registered by August 2005, putting small, medium and large suppliers of food supplements under intense pressure. In essence, the FSD is another blow to the individual's freedom to choose how to look after their health, be it in conjunction with a good diet or simply as a preventive against Buffett, 72, is guest of honour at a closed two-day meeting of some of the world's most powerful businessmen and financiers—the ultimate networking oppor- tunity. The get-together in the ancestral home of the Rothschild banking family will discuss economic and political issues, the organisers said... Among those invited to Waddesdon Manor were the likes of James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, Jorma Ollila, chief executive of Nokia, and De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer. (Source: Reuters, 24 September 2002) VEDIC MATHS CORRECTIONS n the article on Vedic Mathematics pub- lished in Science News last issue, there was an error in the material provided to us by the author. On the final page, the example given for 39 x 11 is incorrect. It should read: developing a chronic disease. Increasing visits to GPs to obtain the correct supplements, 39xll=3 (3+9) 9 as the Directive would have us do, will not suit the overburdened Health Service at all, =3 12 9 but it might just serve the big corporations. =4 2 9 (Sources: The Institute of Science in Society, 16 October 2003, http://www.i-sis.org.uk/ This makes the final answer 429, not vitamins2.ph; Alliance of Natural Health, http://www.alliance-natural-health.org ) 329. Our apologies for any confusion. Ed. Hydrology in Merlewood, Cumbria. The big story is the massive differences between the impacts that the three crops— conventional or GM—had on wildlife. In many cases, these differences dwarfed those between a GM crop and its conven- tional variety. For instance, researchers collected an average of 1,707 beetles over a year in conventional beet fields, marginally ahead of the 1,576 found in GM beet fields. Yet this is more than double the number of beetles found in GM or conventional maize, and 50 to 60 per cent more than the number found in rape. Maize, whose GM variety was better for wildlife than its con- ventional counterpart, turned out to be worst for wildlife overall on many counts. (Source: New Scientist, 25 October 2003) ARNIE ANOINTED BY THE ELITE? Conte this Reuters news item from over a year ago... The world's second-richest man dropped into the English countryside with the Terminator at his side on Monday, a day after warning the UK's corporate big game his elephant gun was loaded. Billionaire Warren Buffett and mean- machine Arnold Schwarzenegger touched down by helicopter on the immaculate lawns of Waddesdon Manor, a Renaissance-style chateau in the undulating hills of Buckinghamshire. Buffett, 72, is guest of honour at a closed two-day meeting of some of the world's most powerful businessmen and financiers—the ultimate networking oppor- tunity. The get-together in the ancestral home of the Rothschild banking family will discuss economic and political issues, the organisers said... Among those invited to Waddesdon Manor were the likes of James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, Jorma Ollila, chief executive of Nokia, and De Beers chairman Nicky Oppenheimer. (Source: Reuters, 24 September 2002) VEDIC MATHS CORRECTIONS n the article on Vedic Mathematics pub- lished in Science News last issue, there was an error in the material provided to us by the author. On the final page, the example given for 39 x 11 is incorrect. It should read: 39xll=3 (3+9) 9 =3 12 9 =4 2 9 This makes the final answer 429, not 329. Our apologies for any confusion. Ed. NEXUS +9 DECEMBER 2003 — JANUARY 2004 www.nexusmagazine.com