A new proposal has been presented in the EU.
The leaders of the EU countries’ food safety authorities came to the conclusion after an inspection that several substances in food supplements can pose risks to the health of those who take them. The proposal to limit or even ban these substances has now moved on to the European Commission, something that EPN was the first to write about.
There are twelve herbal ingredients that can be banned. Some of these are only dangerous in high doses, others already in small doses.
– Dietary supplements are fairly loosely regulated within the EU. They contain a wide range of substances, only some of which are regulated in detail, says Anna Mizrahispecialist at the Swedish Food Agency and who participated in the European working group that produced the list, to the channel.
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Some of the above-mentioned substances are found in other products such as spices, but since the amount of the substance is smaller in the spices than in the food supplements, the spices are deemed not to pose a health risk.
– In dietary supplements, the content of curcumin can be much higher compared to when it is used in the spice turmeric. Those who manufacture dietary supplements explicitly want to concentrate and increase the curcumin content, explains Mizrahi in EPN.
The investigation by the EU countries’ food safety authorities shows that dietary supplements containing curcumin and its impact on, for example, the liver must be studied more carefully.
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So far, the European Commission has not taken a decision. Whether or not the proposal will go ahead is not yet clear.
Mizrahi is critical of the manufacturers of dietary supplements. She urges consumers to think before they buy the products.
– It pays to think about whether I really need this food supplement, and choose a reliable seller who provides their contact details, she says to the channel.