Who is behind the Scandinavian vitamins email scare campaign?

31-Oct-2008 - Last updated on 03-Nov-2008 at 10:48 GMT

European Union food law reform campaigners such as the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) and the Danish groups Eliant and MayDay have distanced themselves from an email campaign slating the impact of European Union food supplement regulations.

These groups - and others such as UK-based Herba Sacra, Consumers for Health Choice and the Irish Association of Health Stores - share a common position in that they seek to reform what they see as draconian European regulations.

Damaging messages

But spokespeople for MayDay and the ANH told NutraIngredients.com the email scare campaign that went out to 1000s of Scandinavian consumers and warned that “all vitamins and minerals” would soon only be available via prescription in pharmacies, sent a distorted, damaging message.

These groups are long-time campaigners in areas such as the maximum permitted levels of nutrients in food supplements, and easing the burden and cost of product registration under the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD).

While scare campaigns such as the one mounted anonymously in Scandinavia draw consumer attention to the EU food law debate, the fact the email was full of misinformation was ultimately damaging to the reform campaign, not to mention consumer understanding of European food regulation reality, said ANH development manager, Meleni Aldridge.

“Even if these emails are created by well-meaning sources, perhaps concerned consumers, they fail to demonstrate the intricate understanding of the issues at hand and are therefore damaging to the campaigns in place to ensure food law in Europe develops responsibly,” she said.

Getting a reaction

Scare campaigns are regularly mounted by fringe groups that spark and die without registering in serious debate, but this campaign has been prolific enough to gain a mention in the Danish parliament and have the Danish Medicines Agency (DKMA) issue a statement contesting the truth of the emails’ assertions.

This particular case is complicated by the fact the email became a chain-mail that ended up in 1000s of Scandinavian inboxes, some of which included a link to Eliant and MayDay petitions and websites, a link highlighted by the DKMA in its joint statement with the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration (DVFA) of October 16.

The DKMA stated: “Readers who take their time to read the full text will see that the emails are all about giving supporters of Rudolf Steiner more political influence in Europe.”

Rudolf Steiner is a nutrition philosopher affiliated with Eliant, but an Eliant spokesperson told NutraIngredients.com it had nothing to do with the chain mails and could do nothing about its petition being added to the emails by unknown parties.

“We completely disassociate ourselves from this kind of fear-mongering,” she said.

The Danish National Health Organisation (LNS) agreed. “We distance ourselves from the mail because of the incorrect content and because it wrongly connects the campaign of Eliant with a protest against vitamin/mineral restrictions,” LNS chairman Vera Marcher said in an email to NutraIngredients.com.

But DMA spokesperson Christian Howard-Jessen noted the Eliant campaign had not posted a statement regarding the scare-mails on its homepage. ”Nor have they changed the URL for the petition in order to render the mails invalid,” he said.

Strictly Denmark

Denmark has notoriously strict regulations governing food supplements and functional foods, with many food supplements classified as medicines that fall under food law in other EU member states, and new food approvals strictly controlled.

The ANH said an example of this was the fact Danish authorities were pushing to have the rising superfruit, Indian gooseberry, otherwise known as amla, classed as a Novel Food despite the fact it is on sale in European markets and has a 15+-year history of safe use that should preclude it from Novel Foods rules.