WRITTEN QUESTION E-2639/02 by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission. Ban on fluoride supplements.
Date: 2002-09-18
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Belgium, fluorine, food poisoning, food safety, food supplement, foodstuffs legislation, health policy, health risk

C 242 E/28

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

Does the Commission consider, based on experience to date, that it is desirable to introduce more
5.
stringent precautionary measures to prevent the occurrence of symptoms of disease caused by fluorine
naturally present in, or added to, drinking water or food?

(2003/C 242 E/031)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2639/02

by Kathleen Van Brempt (PSE) to the Commission

(18 September 2002)

Subject: Ban on fluoride supplements

Belgium will shortly become the first EU Member State to ban fluoride supplements. This will also make
Belgium the first country in the world to introduce such a ban. The Federal Minister of Public Health says
that he has asked the Commission to ban fluoride supplements throughout the EU. According to the
minister, the Commission has so far refused to do so. The minister also wishes to see a general ban on
fluoride at a later stage.

Does the Commission agree with the reasoning of the Belgian minister that fluoride and fluoride

1.
supplements present a risk to physical and mental health?

2. What is the Commission’s precise reason for refusing to follow Belgium’s example?

3.
The minister claims that the number of cases of fluoride poisoning is rising. Is the Commission
aware of any cases of fluoride poisoning in the EU? If so, how many cases have there been, exactly? What
were the consequences for the victims?

4. Will the Commission in future take measures to ban fluoride supplements and later fluoride in
general? If so, when?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-2560/02 and E-2639/02
given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(30 October 2002)

The Commission received on 2 August 2000,
in the framework of Directive 98/34/EC establishing a
procedure for the provision of information in the fields of technical standards and regulations (1), the
Belgian draft ‘Royal decree amending the Royal Decree of 3 March 1992 concerning trade in nutrients and
in foodstuffs to which nutrients have been added’. In particular, the draft intended to remove chromium
and fluorine from the approved list of nutrients. The Commission reacted to the notification noting that
with regard to the use of chromium and fluorine in the form of food supplements, the draft concerned a
subject covered by the proposal for a Directive on food supplements (2) which was submitted to the
Parliament and the Council on 8 May 2000. The Belgian authorities were required, in conformity with the
provisions of Article 9, paragraphs 3 and 4 of Directive 98/34/EC, to defer the adoption of the draft in
question for twelve months from the date the Commission received the notification. The Belgian
authorities respected their obligation of postponing at that time the adoption of the draft which they
adopted in July this year.

The Commission does not intend to propose a ban on fluoride in food supplements. It is important to
note that the Union legislation on food supplements, Directive 2002/46/EC of the Parliament and the
Council on food supplements (3), was adopted on 10 June 2002. The adopted text was based on the
Common Position (EC) No 18/2002 (4) that had been finalised and adopted under the Belgian Presidency in
December 2001. The Directive entered into force on 12 July 2002 and Member States are required to
bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive
by 31 July 2003. It should also be noted that fluoride is one of the vitamins and minerals, listed in annex I
of the Directive, which may be used in the manufacture of food supplements under specific conditions.

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/29

The Commission is aware of certain concerns regarding high intakes of fluoride. The Scientific Committee
for Food in its 1992 opinion on nutrient and energy intakes for the European Community (5) noted that
fluoride is beneficial to dental health, although chronic exposure to intakes of 10-25 mg per day can have
effects on the muscles and skeleton that can manifest as debilitating musculo-skeletal deformities. The
Scientific Committee on Food is currently undertaking risk assessments on the tolerable upper levels of
intake for all the nutrients listed in the Directive on food supplements, including fluoride. Maximum levels
for vitamins and minerals in food supplements will therefore be established at the Union level on the basis
of the scientific risk assessments and calculations of intakes from other food sources, with due account
taken of reference intakes of vitamins and minerals for the population.

Regarding drinking water, its quality is regulated in the Community by Council Directive 80/778/EEC of
15 July 1980 relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption (6), which will be replaced
by 25 December 2003 by the drinking water Directive 98/83/EC of the Council of 3 November 1998 (7).
In both Directives there is a limit concerning the maximum admissible concentration of fluoride in
drinking water, regardless of its origin, i.e. naturally present or artificially added. The limit set out in the
drinking water Directive is 1,5 milligram per litre, which according to the view of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) as expressed in its drinking water quality guidelines (8) represents a good balance
between the positive and negative effects of fluoride. At present the Commission is not considering
revision of the legislation.

The Commission is not able to provide the requested data on the impact of fluoride on dental health or
other effects on health in the population of the Union as it does not have the responsibility for collecting
such data. However,
lead to the
development of a system for the collection by Member States of comparable data on the impact on health
of individual substances in the diet.

the new health programme 2003-2008 will

is expected that

it

(1) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.
(2) OJ C 311 E, 31.10.2000.
(3) OJ L 183, 12.7.2002.
(4) OJ C 90 E, 16.4.2002.
(5) Reports of the Scientific Committee for Food 31st series. Nutrient and energy intakes for the European Community
the European Communities,

(Opinion expressed on 11 December 1992). Office for Official Publications of
Luxembourg 1993.
(6) OJ L 229, 30.8.1980.
(7) OJ L 330, 5.12.1998.
(8) World Health Organisation. Guidelines for drinking water quality. Second edition, volume 2. Geneva, 1996.

(2003/C 242 E/032)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2727/02

by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission

(30 September 2002)

Subject: Border guard units

Replying to my Question E-1887/02 (1) of 2 July 2002 in the debate on the Commission Communication
‘Towards Integrated Management of the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union’ (2),
the Commission regrets that it cannot answer the questions as it does not have any information on the
matter, which falls within the competences of the relevant authorities of the Member States.

Why is the Commission proposing European border guard units if it is unfamiliar with the present
situation?

(1) OJ C 28 E, 6.2.2003, p. 148.
(2) COM(2002) 233.