A CONTROVERSIAL law that could ban hundreds of vitamin and mineral supplements from being sold in Britain was upheld by the European Court of Justice yesterday.

Groups from the health food industry lost an appeal against the introduction of the Food Supplements Directive, which comes into force on August 1.

The directive will oblige manufacturers to submit all natural remedies, vitamin supplements and mineral plant extracts for approval and inclusion on a list of recognised food supplements.

A “positive list” of 112 substances passed fit for consumption has been drawn up, which includes vitamin C, calcium and iron. But many popular substances, such as selenium yeast, tin, manganese and vitamin K2, have been omitted and are subject to 505 separate appeals.

If the European Food Safety Authority rejects the proposals, many popular supplements such as Viridian High-Five, Nature’s Plus Source of Life, and Holland & Barrett Vitamin C-1 could soon be outlawed.

The European Court’s decision to reject British claims that the law is a breach of EU rules came as a surprise to politicians and campaigners, who said that it could put scores of manufacturers out of business. The ruling went against the opinion of the court’s top legal adviser, who said in April that the directive should be scrapped for contravening basic EU principles of “legal protection, legal certainty and sound administration”.

Britain’s health supplement market is worth an estimated £335 million a year and includes many products in long-established regular use for everything from blood pressure and diabetes to osteoporosis. About 21 million Britons — a third of all women and a quarter of men — take supplements in the belief that they will improve their health.

The directive comes in two stages: enforcement of types of ingredient in supplements next month, and a second ruling in a year’s time on quantities of different nutrients allowed. “A ‘positive list’ system is appropriate for securing the free movement of food supplements and ensuring the protection of human health,” the judges ruled, adding that an application to have a substance included could be refused only after a full risk assessment.

The conditions set out yesterday may help to mollify the Alliance for Natural Health, backed by the British Health Food Manufacturers’ Association and the National Association of Health Stores, which challenged the directive. They said that the rules were unnecessary and that the costs of complying would be prohibitive for many small firms.

The directive was approved by EU governments in 2002, and health food manufacturers had until yesterday to submit scientific dossiers proving that their ingredients were safe. Supplements failing to qualify by August 1 would be banned.

The plans caused controversy from the start, prompting a petition of more than a million signatures, a letter of protest to Tony Blair from more than 300 doctors and scientists, and motions opposing the law in both Houses of Parliament.

Patricia Hewitt, the Health Secretary, said that Britain would use its EU presidency to ensure that the laws do not deny products to people. She told MPs yesterday that she would fight for a sensible implementation of the directive.

Ms Hewitt said that, as a user of vitamins and supplements herself, she would continue to press for the lightest touch possible in carrying out the directive. “We will ensure that the providers who are already making available a wide and growing choice of vitamin and food supplements to the public in Britain and elsewhere can continue to do so,” she added.

John Bowis, Tory Health spokesman in the European Parliament, estimated that 300 nutrients and nutrient sources in Britain would now be banned unless they obtained inclusion on a positive list — a move requiring “excessive levels of testing and red tape”.

However, Jim Murray, director of the European consumers’ group BEUC, said it was “a clear victory for consumers and for the EU’s right to regulate on the safety of food products”.

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