Minister for Health Mary Harney will today be presented with a petition signed by thousands of people concerned that they will no longer be able to buy special food supplements when a new EU directive comes into force.
President of the Irish Association of Health Stores (IAHS) Jill Bell will present the petition today.
She said "tens of thousands" of Irish consumers had signed it.
Ms Bell said the petition appeals to the Government and the European Commission to "respect and retain the right of consumers to access higher level vitamin and mineral supplements, which have been available in Ireland and elsewhere for decades".
"The IAHS is asking for the Minister's urgent intervention on this matter in Europe, given that the European Commission is in the final stages of developing its proposal on maximum permitted levels of vitamins and minerals in food supplements, which will then be mandated EU-wide," Ms Bell said.
"If the Commission bases its decisions on the recommendations of the Irish authorities, consumers will be denied the right to select levels of nutrients that are well known to promote health."
In its submission to the Commission last year, the Department of Health, on the advice of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), recommended that the maximum permitted levels should be set at no more than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA).
Ms Bell said this was "an utterly outdated concept developed in the 1940s that has absolutely no bearing on safety whatsoever".
"In effect, this would mean that vitamin C would be available over the counter at doses of no more than 60mg," Ms Bell said.
Green Party health spokeswoman Senator Deirdre de Burca said that what is proposed under the directive "will undermine the individual's right to choose".
"Over-regulation and inappropriate regulation is obviously not the way forward. It is evident that the methodology being applied to determine maximum permitted levels under this directive is seriously flawed and will result in the unnecessary removal from the marketplace of very many valuable products."