Memorandum submitted by Mr Anthony Bush,
Peter Black Healthcare (Southern) Ltd (E29)
I welcome the investigation by your Committee
into the Vitamin B6 issue. As a manufacturer of vitamins and minerals
my major concern is that decisions taken on the sales of such
products are based on good scientific evidence particularly where
safety is involved.
I am very concerned by the proposed legislation
because:
(a) I believe the decision has been made
using poor science and in one case misinterpreting the results
(the Munro Study).
(b) After extensive study the US Institute
of Medicine has set the upper safe level for Vitamin B6 at100
mg per day for adults (enclosed report).
(c) Experts who gathered at the Royal College
of Physicians in September 1997 concluded that Vitamin B6 should
be freely sold safely at levels 100-200 mg (enclosed report).
I would submit that by treating Vitamin B6 as
a toxin rather than a food supplement, the Committee on Toxicity
in Food has drawn the wrong conclusion and in doing so will restrict
consumers freedom of choice quite needlessly.
We need the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food and COT to reconsider their position. They should reflect
what the majority of experts are saying not only in the UK but
also internationally.
16 April 1998
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