Fluoride can now be added to foods

Fluoride can now be added to foods manufactured and supplied in Europe. It's been classified as a safe supplement, according to Europe's highest authority on food standards. This is ridiculous when many like the Government's York Review have declared we need further info.

Photos: Snow yesterday

Basically the decision means that food manufacturers can include sodium monofluorophosphate, the common form of fluoride found in toothpaste and mouth washes, to their products. Sadly all too many people have been fed for too long the wonders of fluoride and so may think this is a great idea...

The Alliance for Natural Health (ANH), the consumer pressure group is calling for an immediate enquiry. The ANH's medical director, Dr Damien Downing, says: "It's bad enough brushing your teeth or rinsing your mouth with fluoride. But opening up its usage to food supplements, when it's very difficult to control how much other fluoride a person is being exposed to, is utterly irresponsible."

The group is also concerned that the EFSA is working outside of its remit - fluoride has supposed medicinal qualities, the decision to include it in foods is one that should be taken by the European Medicines Agency.

Here is a comment from one of the local Safe Water Campaign members: "Sodium monofluorophosphate is a specified fluoride. The word that appears on the list of approved food additives is simply 'fluoride', a meaningless term when unspecified; and potentially opening the door to indiscriminate choices of extremely dangerous industrial grade waste fluorides, untested for any kind of human ingestion or contact. The implications for our health are mind-boggling. What are our vote-seeking politicians doing about it, apart from bugger-all?"

I was also sent an email this week regarding Charlotte Atkins, Labour MP for Staffordshire Moorlands - she apparently is the Vice President of the British Fluoridation Society (BFS). She is also the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for dentistry and wants to hold seminars and meetings etc between MPs and dentists on best practice etc etc. Clearly this is at least partly about wanting to influence and promote fluoridation to MPs nationwide. This surely smacks of undue influence and power - the BFS is in the eyes of many campaigners merely a propaganda organisation for fluoride and not about dentistry, dental health or oral health. In June last year I am informed Charlotte Atkins wrote NIL under her 'interests'.

At the moment campaigners against water fluoridation in this country are waiting to hear re the crucial decision in Hampshire - the consultation has closed - we should hear later this month - if it goes in favour of water fluoridation it will make it easier for it to happen elsewhere - already a Health Chief in Bristol is calling for it. Locally campaigners are already gearing up to make sure it does not happen here.