There was "panic buying" in health food stores across the State yesterday after the European Court of Justice made a ruling which could result in up to 80 per cent of the vitamins and minerals currently on sale here being withdrawn.
The court upheld the provision of the EU Food Supplements Directive which will begin to come into effect from August 1st and will exclude from sale more than 300 ingredients in products that have been on shop shelves for decades.
These ingredients include boron, important for healthy teeth and bones; sulphur, important for healthy skin; and 1000mg vitamin C tablets.
Erica Murray of the Irish Association of Health Stores said that, while the ruling caused concern, there was no need for the panic buying witnessed yesterday.
The clock had only started ticking on the directive on August 1st, and it was unlikely much would change before 2009.
This was because an opportunity was given for safety dossiers on any ingredients not on an approved or "positive list" under the directive to be submitted to the European Food Safety Authority for inclusion on the list between now and 2009.
If these submissions were successful, the ingredients would remain on shop shelves.
However, Ms Murray said that the cost of preparing a dossier could be up to €400,000 per ingredient, which was "crippling" for small companies. The ingredients which had been excluded included "the most absorbable" products, she said.
"We are talking about nutrients essential for health. We are not talking about toxic chemicals. They are applying very outdated science," she added.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the EU was right to restrict the trade in food supplements on public health grounds.
"The court pointed out that certain restrictions can be justified by the protection of public health and considered the measures in question to be necessary and appropriate for the purpose of achieving that objective," an ECJ statement said.
The ruling went against the opinion of the court's most senior legal adviser who had backed makers of natural vitamins, excluded from the list, in arguing that the legislation was deficient.
Fine Gael MEP Avril Doyle said the decision was a clear example of overregulation.
"At a time when obesity and other lifestyle diseases are on the rise, it is questionable to discourage people from taking a preventive approach to illness through food supplements.
"Proper information on safe dosage and correct labelling is what is required, and not the limiting of certain high-level preparations," she said.
The Green Party said it was disappointed with the court ruling.
"Diversity and choice are being replaced in the name of harmonisation," said Paul Gogarty TD.