Five Important Professional and Trade Associations Endorse the Botanical Adulterants Program

The Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM), American Herbalists Guild (AHG), the National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH), the British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA), and Natural Products New Zealand (NPNZ) have publicly endorsed the Botanical Adulterants Program. These organizations represent the growing list of health professional groups and dietary supplement trade organizations inside and outside North America that have endorsed the Program, reflecting the increased interest in ensuring herb quality and the increased global outreach efforts of the Program.

AIHM was formed in 2013 by the American Holistic Medical Association and the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine. Its stated mission is dedication to “engaging a global community of health professionals and health seekers in innovative education, certification, leadership, inter-professional collaboration, research, and advocacy that embraces all global healing traditions, to promote the creation of health and the delivery of evidence-informed comprehensive, affordable, sustainable person-centered care.” In addition to uniting licensed healthcare practitioners who practice integrative medicine and offering credible educational and certification programs, AIHM advocates for affordability and accessibility on behalf of patients and practitioners. AIHM Executive Director, Nancy Sudak, MD, said, “We support your mission to preserve botanical purity, and thank you for the effort … to expose the challenges associated with adulterated herbs in commerce around the world.”

AHG was formed in February 1989 by twenty herbalists, including BAP members Mark Blumenthal, Steven Foster and Roy Upton. Its mission is to promote clinical herbalism as a viable profession rooted in ethics, competency, diversity, and freedom of practice, to support access to herbal medicine for all, and to advocate excellence in herbal education. Currently, the organization has over 250 “Professional” members and over 2000 additional members. AHG Executive Director Mimi Hernandez stated that “The American Herbalists Guild is delighted to support the ABC Botanical Adulterants Program. The adulteration of herbal medicines throughout history has had a deep impact on the integrity of professional herbalists and I am certain that our membership will benefit from the important educational aspects of the program as well as the confidence attributed to a high quality supply chain of herbal medicines.”

Founded in 1964, BHMA is an organization consisting of manufacturers of herbal medicines, herbal practitioners, botanical raw materials and extract suppliers, academics, pharmacists, and retailers. Its objective is to defend the right of the public to choose herbal medicines and to be able to obtain them freely, promote high standards of quality and safety in herbal medicines, advance the science and practice of herbal medicine, encourage wider knowledge and recognition of the value of herbal medicine, and foster research in phytotherapy. The Association has a strong commitment to science, as evidenced by the publication of the reference books the British Herbal Pharmacopoeia and the British Herbal Compendium. BHMA chairman Dick Middleton, PhD, commented that “the principle objectives of the Program are pivotal to the ongoing development of high-quality herbal health products in the US and related markets including the United Kingdom. The core thrust of the program involving education and training will also additionally lead additionally to the increasing availability of high quality herbal materials on a global scale to herbal product manufacturers with the creation of more robust supply chains.”

The 150-year-old National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH), founded in 1864 under the name of National Association of Medical Herbalists, is the United Kingdom’s leading professional organization representing herbal practitioners. NIMH has members across and beyond the UK. The Institute promotes the benefits, efficacy and safe use of herbal medicine. Striving to provide the best patient care through the work of herbalists, the goal of NIHM is to continue the long and safe track record of NIMH members in the practice of herbal medicine. In a letter to Mark Blumenthal from December 15, 2015, NIMH President Laura Stannard wrote that “the adulteration of medicinal plants is an issue of grave concern for all herbalists and everyone involved in herbal medicine worldwide,” and that “in lending our name to the program we hope that other Professional Associations will follow our lead.”

Founded in 2002, Natural Products New Zealand (NPNZ) is a trade organization with the goal to maximize the natural products industry’s competitive advantage and increase the profile of New Zealand as a source of high quality natural products. The organization provides a voice for the New Zealand industry, leads industry trade missions and hosts New Zealand industry delegates at international trade fairs. In addition, NPNZ hosts an annual summit that provides updates on regulatory issues, an overview on marketing and other emerging trends in the natural products industry.