WildB
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What is Codex?
Codex is global in its inception and scope. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administartion, "The Codex Alimentarius Commission, or Codex, was created in 1963 by two U.N. organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The Commission claims that its main purpose is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in international trade in food through the developement of food standards, codes of practice, guidelines and other recommendations." -- cfsan.fda.gov
Codex Alimentarius comes from the Latin and means "food code".
On the surface what the FDA says sounds good. But, freedoms given up to adhere to Codex standards may not bode well for the American consumer who takes nature food supplements or vitamins and minerals.
What Codex is Doing
Let us look at only a few of the directives that have come out of this organization over the years. Newmediaexplorer.org posted an artical on October 19, 2004:
... The EU Directive classifies vitamins and minerals in Europe as "medical drugs" rather than dietary supplements, which means that they're subject to government regulation in terms of dosage and availability. It gets worse: There are many nutrients known to be vital to optimal health that are not on the government's RDA nutrient list including chromium picolinate, lysine, and selenium. Under the directive, these types of supplements are banned from over-the-counter sale. Put simply, it will be illegal to buy them without a prescription. The supplements that will be available will be restricted to multi-vitamins containing no more than 100 percent of the established RDA amounts, which are usually useless, trival quantities -- and they'll be far more expensive than what we have now.
Here are examples of what has been done in some of the 160 countries that participate in the Codex system:
Kava kava, and rather innocuous anti-stress herbal remedy in use for seveal decades in Canada without incident, was ... prohibited (November, 1996) from sale by the HPB (Health Protection Branch). DHEA, a very popular health food store supplement extracted from wild yam was also the target of HPB supplement police (November 13, 1996). Several months previous to this, melatonin was the HPB victim. All this has gone on despite zero deaths or even any serious adverse reactions taking place as a result of Kava kava, DHEA, or melatonin.
-- Sumeria.net/health/hpb-codex.html
On page 16 of Crusador magazine, Nancy Lee Bentley says, "...starting this year in phases, Codex will go on to reduce forms, dosages of supplements, prohibit the use of any natural substance to prevent, treat or cure disease... legalize GMO's... raise allowable pesticides, toxin and drug levels in food devastatingly high... mandate antibiotics and hormones in the food of ALL animals... make organics impossible to acquire... eventually even prohibit all the traditional medicines/herbs indigenous cultures have been utilizing for thousands of years.
The U.S. Position on Codex
The United States Food and Drug Administration defends its participation in Codex. In a report on cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dscodex.html, an AUgust 2005 entry answers the question, "What has been the U.S. position on these Guidelines?" Here is that response:
The U.S. supports consumer choice and access to dietary supplements that are safe and labeled in a truthful and non-misleading manner. THe Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA) ensures that a broad array of dietary supplements are available to U.S. consumers. The Codex Guildelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements do not, in any way, affect the availability of supplement products to U.S. consumers. On the contrary, the absence of science-based Codex guidelines could adversely affect the ability of U.S. manufacturers to compete in the international marketplace. Further, there is no basis for the concern that the Codex Guidelines on Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements would require dietary supplements be sold as prescriptions in the United States.
Can we be sure what the government says is true? In Crusador magazine, page 15, Ms. Bentley writes:
Merely being a member of the World Trade Organization guarantees "GARMozation" of our laws with Codex standards. While most of us may not realize it, treaty law supersedes domestic law. Predictably Rep. Ron Paul's HJ27, proposing our withdrawal from the WTO, was defeated in Congress, but the reality is, as long as we are members of this global management initiative, we are obligated to harmoize with world standards, facing stiff trade sanctions for noncompliance.
January 2006 Prophetic Observer
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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