17th Meeting of the Expert Group on Vitamins and Minerals, 3-4 February 2003

The Secretariat provided an overview of the public consultation responses on the draft report for member’s information.

One hundred and three responses were received in total and considered by the EVM.

• The majority of respondents who sent in comments were interested members of the public (38%), closely followed by academics (20%), industry and complementary health practitioners (12% respectively).
• There were four vitamins and minerals that did not receive any comments. These were: cobalt, potassium, thiamin and tin. Members reviewed the risk assessments for these nutrients to ensure that a consistent approach had been taken.
• The EVM discussed the comments made during the public consultation and reviewed the overall draft report and the risk assessments on each vitamin and mineral in light of comments received, including additional evidence provided in the form of peer reviewed papers published in scientific or medical journals. The report will be finalised over the next few months.

Members were shown the proofs of the report for information.

Once published the EVM report (including a CD-ROM of the reviews) will be available for purchase, details to be confirmed.