To: IAHF List
Subject: FLAWED REPORT FROM NAS's IOM CALLS FOR REPEALING DSHEA.... AHPA NUKES IOM REPORT WITH PRESS DC PRESS CONFERENCE
From: IAHF.COM
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 15:12:02 +0100
IAHF List: I am off to Luxembourg this weekend to cover that transpires in the European Court of Justice on January 25 when the UK based Alliance for Natural Health http://www.alliance-natural-health.org goes into the largest courtroom in the ECJ to blow the hated, anti consumer, EU Food Supplements Directive to SMITHEREENS.
If you are an American, to defend your health freedom, it is IMPERATIVE that you take the following two simple actions IMMEDIATELY:
1) Read the news article below from the American Herbal Products Assn which trashes the recent IOM Report, citing numerous gross and misleading inaccuracies in it that shows just how low these Pharma Lap Dogs will go in their zeal to scuttle the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994.
Grasp fully the danger we are in: Members of Congress will accept what IOM is saying, taking it at FACE VALUE unless YOU take the trouble to EDUCATE THEM by calling them to tell them about AHPAs numerous quite valid criticisms. Tell them you will drive them out of office if they attempt to amend DSHEA in ANY WAY WHATSOEVER.
2) The UK Based Alliance for Natural Health had their legal fees jacked up by the law firm representing them, and need EMERGENCY DONATIONS over their secure server at http://www.alliance-natural-health.org as they head into court this coming Tuesday, January 25th.
3. To FULLY GRASP the danger dietary supplement consumers WORLD WIDE are in due to CODEX & the EU FSD, watch the DVD "Push Back From CODEX CLIFF" which you may view at NO CHARGE on streaming video at http://www.glycommunity.com/iahf This DVD was shot of our EMERGENCY HEALTH FREEDOM MTG at ACAM in San Diego in November. Our program was MC ed by a health freedom ICON- Jonathan V. Wright, MD
4. Order copies of this DVD to pass out to health food store owners, especially the ones that are members of NNFA, so we can blow their pharma connected legal counsels spin against our message to SMITHEREENS just as ANH is going to do on TUESDAY to the EU FSD.
5. Pray for ANH, IAHF, and all allied organizations world wide, and work with us. We are a true grass roots movement, and we're only going to keep growing in size. Please snowball this URGENT ALERT!! To help IAHF on an emergency basis as well, please pump donations in to IAHF.COM You will see the paypal button on the top of the scrollbar on the interior of the site. Alternatively, please send donations to: IAHF 556 Boundary Bay Rd., Point Roberts, WA 98281 USA........ With YOUR HELP we WILL DESTROY the Pharma Cartel.... once and for ALL....... now please read the very important article below, and snowball this alert. Each one, teach 10, each 10 teach 10,000,000.
http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=11446&zoneid=2
Flawed Report from IOM Calls for Amending DSHEA
2005-01-13 - American Herbal Products Association (AHPA)
(Silver Spring, MD) -- In a report based on erroneous assumptions and discredited references, the Institutes of Medicine (IOM) has called for amendments to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) that, while largely redundant to the current law, will almost certainly be waved about and cited by critics of the dietary supplement industry for years to come.
"It is unfortunate that such an imminently qualified group of experts was presented with such flawed assumptions about the current regulatory scheme for dietary supplements," said Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). "The recommendations that resulted from all of the effort that went into this federally funded project have been wasted, and the very credibility of the IOM has been damaged."
The prepublication version of the report, Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) by the American Public, was made available on IOM’s website today and a press conference was held in Washington DC to announce its publication. The report was purportedly prepared "to explore scientific, policy, and practice questions that arise from the significant and increasing use of CAM therapies by the American public." One chapter of the report was dedicated to dietary supplements, as was a significant portion of the press conference.
Errors in the report
Examples of errors included in the report include:
In discussing safety of dietary supplements, the report states, "Instead of premarketing testing, FDA must prove that a supplement is unsafe to remove it from the market." As all AHPA members who are familiar with the requirements for new dietary ingredients know, this is not true. The apparent reference in support of this misleading statement is a 1995 FDA document accessed on FDA’s website – which AHPA has requested be removed!
In a table that summarized and compares FDA regulation of foods, drugs and dietary supplements, the burden on manufacturers to provide conclusive evidence of safety prior to marketing new ingredients is ignored, and the table states that FDA bears the burden of proof for "demonstrating safety or lack thereof" for all dietary supplements. And what was the reference for that oversight, which again ignores the law on new ingredients?: IOM’s own publication from 2004 – which AHPA requested be corrected, prior to its final publication!
In discussing the ongoing process of awaiting FDA’s final rule on good manufacturing practice specific to dietary supplements, the report states that GMP "will require standards… to reduce the risk of contamination with pesticides, heavy metals, and other impurities." It is apparent that IOM was not aware that all supplement manufacturers are currently required to meet the same high standard of manufacturing practice that is required for all U.S. food producers – and so are already required to address all of the cited contamination issues.
The document cites a survey of public attitudes about dietary supplements: "Slightly more than half (53 percent) were aware that supplements are not regulated by the government."
"What is sad about this citation is that it makes it apparent that 100 percent of the panel was misinformed about the regulatory status of dietary supplements," commented McGuffin. "How can anyone propose amendments to a law that they do not understand?"
Recommended amendments to DSHEA
The report’s chapter on dietary states concludes by stating that "… the committee recommends that the U.S. Congress and federal agencies, in consultation with industry, research scientists, consumers, and other stakeholders, amend the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 and the current regulatory scheme for dietary supplements, with emphasis on strengthening:
"DSHEA is a good law that already forbids misleading claims and requires accurate labeling, including label information that protects consumers," added McGuffin. "If FDA does a good job with the imminent GMP rules, the quality control issue will be addressed. Incentivizing research is a worthy conversation, but ‘public domain’ knowledge about herbs must be considered in any new scheme. So we are left with research on consumer use of supplements — is IOM proposing that the U.S. Congress pass a law to establish a statutory requirement that somebody conduct surveys?"
IOM’s press release can be read at http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309092701?OpenDocument.
The full IOM report is available online: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11182.html, and the chapter on dietary supplements (Chapter 9) can be purchased there for $3.00 by following the prompts to "purchase PDF chapters."
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The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) is the national trade association and voice of the herbal supplement industry, the only trade association devoted solely to herbal issues. AHPA is the recognized leader in representing the responsible center of the botanical trade, and is comprised of the finest growers, processors, manufacturers and marketers of herbal products. AHPA’s mission is to promote the responsible commerce of herbal products. AHPA committees generate self-regulations to ensure the highest level of responsibility with respect to the way herbs are manufactured, labeled and sold. Website: http://www.ahpa.org
Contact:
Karen Robin, Director of Communications
American Herbal Products Association
Telephone: (301) 588-1171, x-107
Email: KRobin@ahpa.org
www.ahpa.org
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For Health Freedom,
John C. Hammell, President
International Advocates for Health Freedom
556 Boundary Bay Road
Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA
http://www.iahf.com
jham@iahf.com
800-333-2553 N.America
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