The European Directive on Food Supplements will restrict Irish consumers and limit severely their access to vitamins, the Green Party has warned.

The Directive is due to restrict the number of vitamins and supplements on free sale without a prescription. It will come into force in 2009.

Green Senator Deirdre de Burca raised the issue during the Adjournment Debate in the Seanad. She said that only low-grade minerals and vitamins will be freely available in health food shops and pharmacies once the Directive is introduced.

Ireland should seek an exemption, Senator de Burca said.

The Irish Association of Health Stores (IASH) has collected thousands of signatures on petitions protesting at the restrictions.

“There is a real concern among alternative health practitioners that purpose of harmonising food supplement levels available on open sale across the EU is to facilitate the workings of the internal market at the expense of the consumer,” Ms de Burca said.

Countries such as Ireland, Britain and the Netherlands have traditionally been more liberal in their food supplement market. Campaigners say the Directive, when adopted into Irish law, could remove nearly three-quarters of these products now sold across the counter.

Ms de Burca said the Green Party would use its influence with the government to seek an opt-out for Ireland.

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