Codex: The End of Our Health Freedom

Diet and Nutrition
1

Ok, so I know I don’t post here a lot, but I’ve been a fan of T-Nation for a couple years, and lurk around the forums a lot. Im a nutritional sciences major, and probably know more about nutrition than my professors through studying and reading of Holistic Health. The only reason im saying this stuff is so I can hopefully put some backing behind what I wanna show everyone. I know how important supplements are to this industry, and to the American people.

Im not sure if anyone here has read about this, but the company Codex is trying to take away our health freedoms, and to stay on topic, they are trying to take away our rights to purchase and for companies to sell supplements. Action needs to be taken, and the best way to do it is through passing on of knowledge. This isn’t spam, and im not trying to come off as a consipriacy theorist even thought it may sound like that. Heres some reading for you guys, hope this helps us all:
http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/codex-alimentarius.html

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?page_id=157

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/?page_id=163

http://www.healthfreedomusa.org/

Most people here know when to trust and when not to trust. We’re pretty smart here at T-Nation, so im almost positive everyone will do their own research and searching about the topic.

2

I remember hearing about this in the past, I don’t think that this movement is popular nor powerful enough to be relevant in the next few years. If it does become relevant, there will be a LOT of media coverage on it, I wouldn’t be too concerned right now.

On another note, don’t say you know more than your profs. Your choice of words makes you seem to come across high and mighty, when you can’t even spell your study, Holistic, correctly.

3

I work in the supplement business and I can say that at first I was worried that they would try to severely restrict our access but if you notice that all of the big pharma companies are buying up nutraceutical manufacturers and getting into the billion dollar business I can assure you that those guys have the playbook for years to come and wouldn’t get in on a market that is about to shut down.

4

Silver, I doubt that sitting and waiting for it to reach the media is a good idea. Thats a huge problem in our country right now; we often wait until the last minute to act or change things, and sometimes it’s just too late. Not trying to be pessimistic with that thought, it’s just the truth. And thanks for catching the mistake on holistic, I’ll make sure to check my spelling from now on.

Storey thats the point though… It’s not that there going to get rid of supplements like fish oil and the rest. It’s that the dose able to be purchased will be so miniscle that it will be ineffective. So who will have the larger doses? Big Pharma. Your literally going to have to go to the doctor to get a prescription for things like fish oil, or a multi, or vitamin D. Big Pharma is purchasing these companies for a reason, and trust me, it’s not the right one. I hope I understood your post correctly.

Not only will they try to restrict us in that way, but the prices of these supplements will be jacked so high that these bastards will be making unimaginable amounts of money of even just the small market of people who NEED supplements. Im not even talking about fat loss and all the performance enhancers right now, I am talking more about supplements that help people with serious disorders and diseases.

Maybe Im wrong. Actually I hope im wrong. So if anyone has any further info on it, please share. Im not trying to defend my opinion too much because I don’t want it to be right, so any valid info saying they will not be able to do this would be great.

Chances are, the Public will not let this happen. But, the public can not fight for what they do not know.

5

I am concerned about this issue and last thing I knew, Codex wasn’t a company, but an international food standard. It was funded by the United Nations and World Health Organization. So far, I haven’t heard to much about it from Americans, but I’ve purchased botanical substances and various herbal medicines from international suppliers, who are very worried about it.

Basically it would red-tape a lot of substances sold as herbal remedies, supplements, pretty much anything you consume for your health, until it can be studied, effective dosages figured out, labelling standards established, etc.

It is marketed as a form of consumer protection, so that people aren’t getting ripped off or ingesting potentially harmful substances, and that may have have been the original goal.

It will also be a means with which a lot of small companies or backyard manufacturers will no longer be able to conduct business, due to all the money and effort that needs to be put into creating products conforming to the standard. This opens the door for big corporations, with a lot of money, to take over the market. I’m not surprised that they are buying up a bunch of the small manufacturers.

Some supplements may become illegal, after god knows how long, and how much money is spent on research. You may still be able to keep taking whatever you’re taking, or you may not.

This isn’t law yet, but I guarantee there are lobbyists writing laws and trying to take advantage of it to not protect the consumer, but to make them more money.

Some individuals may think of this all as conspiracy theory non-sense, but its an actual international food standard that may makes its way into U.S. and international law. If it doesn’t become law, there may still be some penalties inflicted on those who don’t conform to it, or benefits for those who do, that may or may not force everyone to conform to it or go out of business.

6

This conspiracy theory nonsense pops up here every few months, without fail.

And Big Pharma is ethically pure compared to most supplement pushers. At least they have to back up their product claims with real research.

7

I’m an RD and remember having that shit attitude: “I know more than my professors.”

I was wrong.

8

And Big Pharma is ethically pure compared to most supplement pushers. At least they have to back up their product claims with real research.

Yea, they back it up to a committee where 50% of the members own a significant portion of stock or used to work for the very companies applying for approval. Trust me, I have a friend who works for the FDA, as well as several patients who are drug reps. Drug companies are far from innocent and do not have your health at heart.

9

[quote]PublickStews wrote:
This conspiracy theory nonsense pops up here every few months, without fail.

And Big Pharma is ethically pure compared to most supplement pushers. At least they have to back up their product claims with real research.[/quote]

Were you being sarcastic when you stated that Big Pharma has to back up their products with real research?

10

They’re not innocent, but they are BETTER. Better than supplement companies pimping products to insecure young males that don’t have any research behind them whatsoever.

11

Damn guys, my focus was not to be on the professor comment. I take it back, there are way more important things to talk about in this thread.

Publick, I would rather have supplement companies pushing supplements on me than Big Pharma MAKING me comply with their bullshit laws.

12

[quote]PublickStews wrote:
They’re not innocent, but they are BETTER. Better than supplement companies pimping products to insecure young males that don’t have any research behind them whatsoever.[/quote]

I disagree completely.

Big Pharma is going to sell people EVERY drug they don’t need to fill their pockets. And, all these drugs have side effects – then you need an additional drug to treat the SE.

It’s all bullshit, no one really needs anti-depressants or half the shit they push on the public. Did you know every time they lower the standard for healthy blood pressure by ten they add an additional billion dollars a year in income?

It’s a very crooked and corrupt system and they make supplement companies look ethical in comparison, in my eyes at least.

13

In regards to the Codex; I’ll keep a watch on this for now. I am skeptical that it will be significant in the future, as I have faith in humanity, but humanity has failed many times, ESPECIALLY with moral panics over supplements.

In regards to ‘Big Pharma’; can people really have an educated debate on the topic when you call it that?

14

[quote]PublickStews wrote:
They’re not innocent, but they are BETTER. Better than supplement companies pimping products to insecure young males that don’t have any research behind them whatsoever.[/quote]

Hahahaha! This was the most outrageous display of naivete that I’ve witnessed in some time. Trust me, I’ve been a party to some ridiculous claims, but this is profound in so many levels. I guess Big Pharma’s well-oiled PR machine is doing an excellent job.

15

I’d be interested to see what someone at T-Nation or Biotest has to say about it. I would think a company like Biotest would definitely know about it by now and have an opinion

16

[quote]HBSBound wrote:
PublickStews wrote:
They’re not innocent, but they are BETTER. Better than supplement companies pimping products to insecure young males that don’t have any research behind them whatsoever.

Hahahaha! This was the most outrageous display of naivete that I’ve witnessed in some time. Trust me, I’ve been a party to some ridiculous claims, but this is profound in so many levels. I guess Big Pharma’s well-oiled PR machine is doing an excellent job. [/quote]

Or… maybe you’re oblivious to generic supplement company’s well-oiled PR machines. Both are pretty sneaky and evil.

17

bottom line is that there are bullshit supplement companies with all hype and marketing and ditto goes for some Pharma companies. There are plenty of well researched supplements/manufacturers out there. Just avoid the NoXPlode and other hype products that want to sound like they are steroids and look for good science.