'Natural health' industry fights EU herbal ban

Government medical advisors have been accused of misleading ministers and consumers over plans to ban hundreds of herbal medicines.

The plans, contained in two European Union directives, could crush large parts of the UK's natural health industry, campaigners say.

Consumers for Health Choice – a pressure group backed by celebrities including Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Sir Cliff Richard and Zoe Ball – claims that the Medicines Control Agency, which licenses and regulates medicines and drugs, did not provide evidence to show the affected products, which include vitamin compounds and common herbal remedies, are unsafe. A consultation process set up by the agency would also make "no difference" to the progress of legislation banning the products, the group claims.

The accusations follow an embarrassing apology to Parliament by Hazel Blears, a health minister, after the agency provided ministers with incorrect advice about the use of bovine material in a childhood polio vaccine.

Concerns about the regulation of remedies were raised with the Prime Minister and MPs in parliamentary debates last week.

The EU directive on herbal products will ban any herbal remedy that has not been on the market for 30 years and force products, such as echinacea or evening primrose oil, to be subjected to the same tough licensing regime as drug treatments for diseases such as cancer and HIV.

Campaigners say it will lead to hundreds of products being taken off the shelves, forcing manufacturers and retailers out of business.

Consumers for Health Choice, along with health firms Holland & Barrett and GNC, has written to Lord Hunt, a health minister, claiming he has been "seriously misled" about the impact of legislation on around 1,300 independent health stores and 400 manufacturers and suppliers.

Sue Croft, the director of Consumers for Health Choice, said: "Traditional herbal remedies have been used safely for hundreds of years yet these proposals will ban hundreds of products and destroy the industry in the UK."