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IAHF List: See the press release below my comments from ANH. It is very good news that Fresh and Wild, (a UK division of Whole Foods Market in the USA) is supporting the ANH lawsuit to overturn the EU Food Supplement Directive.

If you live in London, please go to Fresh and Wild TODAY July 15th. 5% of the money you spend there today will go towards the ANH lawsuit.

If you live in the USA, and shop in Whole Foods, please urge them to do the same thing in the USA that they're doing in London. Please show them this article http://www.thehealthcrusader.com/pgs/article-0104-ban.shtml

Whole Foods must awaken to the GLOBAL IMPORTANCE of the ANH lawsuit, they MUST grasp that the American supplement industry is being led to the cliff from WITHIN.

No matter where you live in the world, it is IMPERATIVE that you donate anything you can to ANH via http://www.alliance-natural-health.org via their website and that you forward this email to more people so they'll sign on to the IAHF email distribution list for updates at http://www.iahf.com Together, we CAN STOP the Pharma Cartel!!

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/index.cfm?action=news&ID=88

Fresh & Wild backs ANH campaign
Leading organic wholefood and natural remedies retailer Fresh & Wild is donating 5% of one day's (15 July) turnover to the ANH campaign.

PRESS RELEASE

BUY YOUR FRUIT AND VEGGIES AT FRESH AND WILD & AND HELP PROTECT THE FUTURE OF NATURAL HEALTHCARE!

Support for the Alliance for Natural Health's legal challenge against the Food Supplements Directive continues to grow. The ANH, which is comprised of scientists, medical doctors, complementary medicine practitioners, lawyers, consumers, suppliers, retailers and manufacturers of innovative natural health products, has recently secured the support of Fresh & Wild, a chain of organic wholefood and natural remedies outlets. Fresh & Wild joins a host of other ANH supporters including Nutri and Nutri-Link (two major UK-based practitioner suppliers), G & G Vitamins (one of the largest food supplement manufacturers in the UK), CAM associations including the British Association of Nutritional Therapists (BANT) and the Institute for Complementary Medicine, Hela Pharma (the largest food supplement manufacturer in Sweden), Alpha Plus (the largest practitioner supplier in Sweden) and the two key Irish health trade associations, the Irish Health Trade Association and the Irish Association of Health Stores.

In addition, the ANH is supported by major US-based innovative product manufacturers and suppliers such as Metagenics and Douglas Laboratories. These companies join the thousands of consumers in the UK and elsewhere who have contributed to the ANH's legal challenge fund, expected to require at least £250,000 to completion. ANH and its top flight barristers are within weeks of finalising its landmark case now destined for the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

The case is likely to be heard in 2005 and goes right to the heart of the issues that are central to the development of natural therapies as a valid alternative to allopathic medicine.

The directive, if not successfully challenged, will have the effect of banning as of August 2005 up to 300 vitamin and mineral forms contained in thousands of different food supplement products, many of which include food-form nutrients. But it is subsequent phases of the directive that are likely to 'break the camel's back'. After 2005, restrictions will be placed both on allowed dosages of vitamins and minerals as well as on the existing huge range of non-vitamin and mineral ingredients, such as herbs, phytonutrients, amino acids, essential fatty acids, fibre, pre-/pro-biotics, enzymes, and other nutrients.

Such attacks against natural therapies are not restricted to regulators in the European Union. UK supermarket giants Tesco and Asda have recently been prosecuted for informing customers that consumption of fruit or vegetables will reduce their risk of diseases like cancer and heart disease, the number one and two killers in the western world. These prosecutions, made by two local councils, are somewhat ironic given that the Department of Health has for some years been running its FIVE A DAY programme which postures similar arguments centred on the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption. It is apparently illegal to make health claims over particular products, unless the product is a medicine and has been licensed as such. Is the law an ass? It becomes ever clearer that Hippocrates' (460-377 BC) missive "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" is still being largely ignored by government authorities.

CAM organisations around Europe are rapidly appreciating the need for concerted pan-European action and are continuing to come in behind the ANH. Natural therapies have never been under such threat by regulators and it is imperative to ensure problematic elements of proposed new EU laws are challenged effectively or changed, before they become set in stone.

ANH is calling for as many of its supporters as possible to visit one of Fresh and Wild's six London stores on 15 July. On this first of Fresh & Wild's "5% Days", 5% of the day's turnover will be donated to the ANH to assist with the funding of its legal action. Fresh & Wild stores are located in Camden Town, the City, Clapham Junction, Notting Hill, Soho and Stoke Newington (see www.freshandwild.com for store details). ANH personnel will be present in each store with flyers and other campaign material. Any volunteers who would be willing to help on the day, please contact the ANH on 01252 371 275 or email info@alliance-natural-health.org.

For further information, please contact:

Dr Robert Verkerk
Executive Director
Alliance for Natural Health
Tel: 01252 371 275
E-mail: info@alliance-natural-health.org

Jeff Martin
Natural Remedies Coordinator
Fresh & Wild
Mob: 07739 761 027
Email: jeff.martin@freshandwild.com