McIntosh Calls on Prime Minister to Save Our Supplements

Friday, 13, Mar 2009 12:00

Miss Anne McIntosh, MP for Vale of York and Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Thirsk and Malton, has called on the Prime Minister to help prevent thousands of vitamin and mineral supplements from being wiped from the shelves of health food stores such as Holland and Barrett in Thirsk.

Miss Anne McIntosh said: “In recent months I have received many letters from worried consumers, concerned by the potential loss of the supplements and vitamins they use on a regular basis. Holland and Barrett in Thirsk have a large local following selling such vitamins and supplements and will be badly affected by their withdrawal from the market.”

“The EU Food Supplements Directive will deny millions of consumers across England the right to buy safe and effective higher dose food supplements. The Directive imposes an unnecessary restriction on freedom of choice for all those who use vitamin and mineral supplements.”

“Tony Blair noted that the legislation was ‘wholly out of proportion’. I have written to the current Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, urging him personally to intervene by taking up the matter with the President of the European Commission. Action is needed now to block the likely decimation of the specialist supplements market.”

Sue Croft, Director of the campaigning group Consumers for Health choice said, “We are enormously grateful to Anne McIntosh MP for taking this matter directly to the Prime Minister. Gordon Brown really needs to understand how important this issue is. The clock is ticking.”