Botanical Ingredient Adulteration: Efforts By The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program To Raise Awareness Of Current Issues And Provide Solutions To The Problem

Abstract

As the market for herbal medicines and dietary supplements increases, so do confirmed reports of undisclosed ingredients being added to botanical raw materials, extracts, essential oils, and finished botanical-based consumer products. These problems present a significant challenge to the global botanical medicine and herbal supplement industries and, more importantly, may put the health and safety of the consumer at risk. The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program (BAP) provides reviews on specific topics of adulteration, and a quarterly newsletter with program news, regulatory action with regard to adulteration, case reports of adulteration detailed by industry members, reports of adulteration and analytical technologies to detect adulteration published in the scientific literature, and upcoming educational events that touch upon the subject. The BAP has also published a number of Laboratory Guidance Documents (LGDs) in which analytical methods on botanicals and extracts in categories that are known to be adulterated are reviewed and evaluated for their ability to detect the suspected adulteration. As part of the series, LGDs on skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) extract, and black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) have been published in 2015. The presentation will give an overview of the Program.