Food supplements: approximation of the laws of the Member States

The amended proposal accepts, in total or in part, 16 of the 38 amendments proposed by the European Parliament at first reading. The Commission can accept the amendments which aim to: - specify that the ingredients of food supplements may be some substances that nutritional function (e.g. vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids) or physiological one (e.g. fibre and various plant and herbal extracts); - propose to include on the label a statement to the effect that food supplements should be stored out of reach of children; - proposes to delete Article 6(4) that would result in the vast majority of food supplements bearing in mind the statement "This is not a medicinal product". The Commission can in principle accept the amendments which aim in particular to: - underline that specific rules on vitamins and minerals laid down in the future directive should be applicable to food supplements containing vitamins, minerals and other ingredients. Otherwise it would be very easy to avoid applying these rules by adding just a small quantity of another ingredient to a food supplement containing vitamins or minerals. On the other hand, in the absence of specific Community rules concerning other ingredients relevant national rules may continue to apply, without prejudice to the provisions of the Treaty; - state in a recital that that priority should be given to the evaluation by the Scientific Committee for Food of Substances that are not included in Annex II of the proposal but which are used in the manufacture of products currently marketed in some Member States; - propose some principles for the adoption of purity criteria for vitamin preparations and mineral substances listed in Annex II; - take into account requirements of children and adults when setting maximum levels for vitamins and minerals. �