Economically Motivated Adulteration of Botanical Raw Materials, Herbal Extracts, and Essential Oils in the Global Marketplace

Abstract

The nature of herbs and related botanical products frequently requires additional quality control diligence for manufacturers and producers of herbal products, including raw materials, teas, extracts, phytomedicines, and related goods. This pertains whether these ingredients are sold as foods, cosmetic ingredients, therapeutic goods, dietary supplements, etc. The fact that herbs are agricultural products (whether wild-harvested or commercially cultivated) can create challenges related to identity, chemical composition, purity, and related considerations. In the past 30 years or so, there have been numerous cases of accidental misidentification of botanical materials due to error and lack of adequate quality control measures. In addition, there have been persistent cases of inadvertent contamination with heavy metals, agricultural chemicals, excessive microbial load, excessive solvent levels in extracts, etc. Much of this is to be expected. However, there appears to be growing trend of intentional adulteration, or economically motivated adulteration (EMA), as well as the so-called „spiking“ of extracts with undisclosed lower-quality and lower-cost ingredients, even including active pharmaceutical ingredients (conventional pharmaceutical drugs). This presentation will review many of these quality control challenges and notable cases of safety concerns and economic fraud created by them as is being compiled for publication in a white paper by the American Botanical Council and the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia.