§ Lord Thurlowasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether it remains their policy that vitamin and mineral supplements should remain on general retail 128WA sale under food law provided that they are safe; and whether they will indicate what steps they are taking to ensure that the proposed European directive on vitamin and mineral supplements is consistent with this policy. [HL1859]
§ Lord DonoughueAs I made clear in the reply that I gave to the noble Earl, Lord Baldwin of Bewdley, on 18 November 1998 (Hansard, col. 1269), whether a product is subject to food or medicine legislation is a matter of law not policy. Those products which fall within the legal definition of food must comply with the law relating to food. Among other things, this effectively requires that products are safe.
As regards the situation in Europe, the EC Commission is considering the possibility of harmonising the controls on vitamin and mineral supplements but is not yet committed to legislating in this area. In responding to a discussion paper issued by the Commission in June 1997, the UK made it clear that any new controls on vitamin and mineral supplements sold under food law should be based on safety considerations.