Canadian Health Food Association Underwrites ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program
(AUSTIN,
Texas, November 11, 2015) The American Botanical Council (ABC) is pleased to
announce the financial support and endorsement of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical
Adulterants Program by the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), Canada’s
largest trade association dedicated to natural health and organic products.
The
Botanical Adulterants Program is a coalition of three nonprofit groups: ABC,
the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the University of Mississippi’s
National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR). More than 170 American
and international parties have supported and cooperated with the Program, which
educates and provides advice about the various challenges related to
adulterated herbs, botanical extracts, and other botanical ingredients in
commerce. These parties include nonprofit organizations, analytical
laboratories, professional scientists, integrative healthcare practitioners,
natural product industry members, and others. “Adulteration” refers to the
accidental or intentional substitution or dilution of a material with an
undisclosed, usually lower-cost, ingredient, thereby giving the consumer a
false sense of the value or quality of an ingredient or product containing such
an adulterated ingredient.
The CHFA
is the voice of the natural health industry in Canada, formed in 1964 from a
grassroots community of health food pioneers. CHFA represents over 1,000 member
businesses across Canada, including manufacturers, retailers, wholesalers,
distributors, and importers of natural and organic products such as foods,
vitamin and mineral supplements, herbal products, homeopathic remedies, sports
nutrition products, and health and beauty aids. Their mission is to lead,
empower, and support their members to promote the growth and advancement of the
organic and natural health products industry. In Canada, most herbal products
are sold as natural health products (NHPs), which are regulated as a class of
medicines.
In a
letter dated October 26, 2015, CHFA President Helen Long announced CHFA’s
support of the Program, writing that she “looks forward to ongoing
collaboration with … the Program as a means of improving NHP quality in Canada
and beyond.”
“We are
deeply grateful for the strong support and encouragement we have received from
CHFA,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC and the
director of the Botanical Adulterants Program. “CHFA’s decision to support our
international quality control education initiative adds another key industry
group that is now assisting us in educating industry members and other
stakeholders in the all-important need to further educate on herbal identity
and authenticity.”
The
Botanical Adulterants Program has been referred to as the premier
industry-supported quality program related to herbs, botanical raw materials,
and extracts. It also has received underwriting and endorsements by domestic
and international industry trade associations. These include the Consumer
Healthcare Products Association, the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the
Natural Products Association, and the United Natural Products Alliance — all in
the United States — as well as the International Alliance of Dietary/Food
Supplement Associations, the Australian Self Medication Industry, Complementary
Medicines Australia, the Australian Tea Tree Oil Association, and Natural
Products New Zealand.
The
ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program has published extensively
peer-reviewed and referenced articles on the history of adulteration,
adulteration of the herbs black cohosh (Actaea
racemosa) and skullcap (Scutellaria
lateriflora), and adulteration of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) fruit
extract and so-called “grapefruit (Citrus
× paradisi) seed extract.” These open-access articles are available
on the Program’s
webpage.
The
Program also publishes a quarterly newsletter, the "Botanical Adulterants
Monitor,” which highlights new scientific publications related to botanical
authenticity and analysis to detect possible adulteration, recent regulatory
actions, and Program news. Issue #5
of the Monitor, released this week, contains summaries of new
research presented at the American Society of Pharmacognosy meeting regarding
licorice (Glycyrrhiza spp.)
and maca (Lepidium meyenii),
authentication of common horsetail (Equisetum
arvense), and the detection of adulteration in commercial buchu (Agathosma betulina)
supplements, among others.
In
August, the Botanical Adulterants Program released the second in its series of Laboratory
Guidance Documents to help industry and third-party
analytical laboratories determine the most effective analytical methods for
detecting adulteration and authenticating botanical raw materials and extracts.
The first of these was published on skullcap,
an herb subject to documented adulteration, which is joined by the latest
publication on bilberry
extract. Additional publications from the Program, including
a Laboratory Guidance Document on black cohosh, are scheduled for release in the
coming weeks and months.
About
the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program
The ABC-AHP-NCNPR
Botanical Adulterants Program is a consortium of independent
nonprofit organizations whose mission relates to education, scientific
research, and quality of botanical dietary ingredients and related
plant-derived materials. The consortium is headed by three nonprofit groups
dealing with education and research on medicinal herbs and other beneficial
plants: the American Botanical Council, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, and
the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of
Mississippi. The program has been underwritten and/or endorsed by more than 170
natural products industry companies, independent analytical laboratories,
contract research organizations, nonprofit and professional organizations,
trade associations, accredited institutions of education in natural medicine,
law firms, and media companies that are involved in the production, supply,
manufacture, distribution, marketing, analysis, research, and/or education of
herbal dietary ingredients and supplements, in the United States and
internationally. All publications of the Program are available free-access on
the Program’s homepage
including the “Botanical
Adulterants Monitor,” an e-newsletter that conveys Program
news, regulatory updates, and recent scientific publications related to
adulteration, contamination, identity, and authenticity of botanical raw
materials, extracts, and essential oils. Companies, organizations, foundations,
and/or individuals interested in supporting this program are invited to contact
Ms. Denise Meikel, ABC Development Director, at (512) 926-4900, ext. 120, or by
email.