Letter to Abel and Cole

Every week I have delivered a salad box of locally-produced fairtrade organic vegetables and other produce from a company called Abel and Cole. Here's their site: http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/

I've sent them the following emial. I'll let you know how they reply:

Hi there.

I've been an Abel and Cole customer for several years now and your salad box has become my staple. As a result I've never been happier or healthier in my life! I'm very keen on the idea of local farms and organic food. This is why I'm so concerned about Codex Alimentarius. A friend of mine, Ian R Crane, is a lecturer and campaigner for natural food and health rights. Here is one of his films in which he warns us that Codex Alimentarius want to stop organic food and force us to eat only chemically-farmed GM food: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5800206429960925518&ei=IPJJSsXeGoWJ-Abm9_j9Bg&q=ian+crane+codex+alimentarius

Are you aware of this? How will the Codex Alimentarius laws affect Abel and Cole and similar retailers (The first legislation comes into action in December)? If you agree that this is a problem then would you be interested in joining Ian and others in the quest to stop Codex Alimentarius?

Thanks, Ben

They've replied:

Dear Ben,

Thank you very much for your email. I have forwarded this to our Marketing department, as I feel that it’s something they need to be aware of. As soon as I hear back from them, I will get back in touch!

In the meantime, if there is anything else we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind Regards,

(S....)

Customer Services Team Leader

Then a few days later I got another email:

Dear Ben,

Apologies for the delay in responding. Thank you for contacting Abel & Cole with regards to your concerns about the Codex Alimentarius. Whilst we appreciate that new laws around the food industry could have a high impact on a retailer like us, we do at the moment have no reason for concern with regards to Codex. This is what the Soil Association, who certifies us, say about Codex Alimentarius:

There is a rumour about Codex that suggests it will ban a wide variety of food supplements as of 31 December 2009. This is wrong. This date refers to the end of the transition phase of the European Food Supplements Directive which brings in a ban after this date of any vitamin or mineral food supplement that has yet to be approved on the Directive's positive list (Annex II). This means that many food supplements containing vitamins and minerals that have not been approved as safe by the European Food Safety Authority will indeed be banned from 1 January 2010. But it is not Codex that is causing these bans — it is the European Directive.

Further to this, the following is what the Soil Association say about Codex and organic food production:

Codex does not directly affect organic standards. Organic standards are regulated by EU legislation and although Codex has produced guidelines for organic farming they are only referenced in the regulation as a measure of equivalence for imports into the EU. The new EU legislation on organic standards came into force on 1 January 2009. This consists of Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007, together with Commission Regulation (EC) 889/2008 (general implementing rules) and Commission Regulation (EC) 1235/2008 (implementing rules for imports).

While we are not unduly concerned at present we will of course be keeping a close eye on any further developments. In the meantime thank you once again for contacting us. If ever there is anything else we can do for you please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind Regards,

S...)