Kate Hoey – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kate Hoey on 2015-02-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions took place at his most recent meeting with the European Health Commissioner, Vytenis Andriukaitis; whether he discussed (a) the likely timelines for the future setting of maximum permitted levels for nutrients under the provisions of Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive and (b) the potential extension of the scope of that Directive to include supplements containing ingredients of plant, fish and animal origin at that meeting; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison

No discussions have yet taken place with Commissioner Andriukaitis. The new European Commission has not announced any renewed plans to implement Article 5 of the Food Supplements Directive and the Government has not recently made an assessment of potential effects of maximum permitted levels of vitamins and minerals, either on consumer choice, or on British businesses. Our advice to United Kingdom manufacturers on safe daily dose levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements is based on the report of the UK’s Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals. The industry has supported the use of these levels and the report is also used by some other member states as advice for safe upper levels.