Chris Milton : Independent Journalist & Writer

The Ecologist – Will the UN’s Codex Alimentarius make food less nutritious?

Imagine this: a Nazi war criminal establishes a secretive organisation embedded within the United Nations through which shadowy corporate interests force countries to remove the nutritional value from food, allowing food companies to profit from spreading malnutrition.

It sounds like fantasy but this is the essence of the accusations that have been levelled at the Codex Alimentarius over the years.  This body, whose Latin name means “Food Rules” is indeed run by the United Nations, but beyond that most of the lurid accusations can be rejected out of hand.

However there are countless organisations and agencies which run under the aegis of the United Nations; what makes this one so special that wild myths and theories circulate so abundantly about its true purpose?

Origins

The Codex Alimentarius was established in 1962 as a joint venture between the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Health Organisation. Its aim is to establish internationally agreed food standards in order to protect consumers’ health and facilitate the international food trade.

All but a handful of countries in the world are members, who meet in committees to agree on rules and standards.  These standards are adopted by consensus, meaning every country has an opportunity to disagree and block adoption. NGOs are allowed to speak at meetings, but they have no direct influence upon the outcomes.

The standards the Coded Alimentarius produces are purely voluntary in nature and members may adopt them for internal or international use as they see fit. (more…)

The Ecologist – How long until health foods become illegal?

Plain Text Version:

Last month Ying Wu, a Chinese herbal medicine practitioner from Essex, pleaded guilty to charges of supplying a banned substance to a client who later went on to develop cancer.

The substance in question, aristolochic acid, has been used in traditional medicines for thousands of years. However within the last decade it has been identified as a carcinogen and banned.

Concerns about the potential toxicity of herbal medicines have been growing over the decades. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been linked to liver failure on several occasions and surveys of Ayurveda medicines have found up to 20% contain dangerous levels of heavy metals. In another study, up to 3% of herbal preparations to combat erectile dysfunction were found to have been contaminated with toxic levels of prescription drugs.

Serious concerns have also been raised about food supplements with a variety of studies showing that high doses of vitamins and minerals may cause liver damage and cancer.

In order to tackle these two areas of concern, a raft of EU legislation has been passed with the aim of protecting the public and allowing consumers to select the healthcare of their choice. (more…)