§ Mr. PickthallTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a further statement on the proposals in the European Food Supplements Directive relating to(a) the removals of certain minerals from free sale, (b) the removal of certain nutrient forms from free sale and (c) the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements. [54508]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 9 May 2002]: The coming into force of the directive will not immediately remove any products already on the UK market. Lists of permitted vitamin and mineral sources remain open pending safety assessments for additional substances. The Government intends, when implementing the directive, to take full advantage of the opportunity we have secured for EU Member States to allow continued sale for up to seven years of products containing vitamin and mineral sources not yet on permitted lists.
During negotiations, the Food Standards Agency argued strongly that maximum permitted levels should be established on the basis of scientific risk assessment. Maximum levels will eventually be decided on the basis of recommendations made by the independent EU Scientific Committee on Food (SCF). The agency is now making strenuous efforts to forge strong links between the SCF and the UK's Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals which is already in the process of carrying out similar assessments.