Examining a pristine organic herb processing factory in China

The herbal medicinals in our clinic are carefully selected from sources that only deal with trusted farmers and herbal processors. For example, our primary source for raw herbs has the most rigorous pesticide testing program in the industry. A good percentage of our herbs are certified organic and pesticide free.

The factories where the products are processed use chemical analysis, including thin layer chromatography (TLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) to confirm proper identification, ensure potency, and test for active constituents when necessary. Every batch of our  herbs are tested by third-party laboratories for heavy metals, microbial contaminants, moisture content, and harmful pesticides such as DDT and benzene hexachloride.

For more information about quality assurance from our distributors click here, Mayway and Springwind.

Getting educated in China in how to asses for high quality herbs

Commentary: With all the news about contaminants in Chinese products it is a valid concern to wonder about the source, as well as the processing methods, of your Chinese herbs. Quality control has been a major concern for us since our beginning. We go out of our way to assure that our patients get the highest quality possible. We of course prefer sources that are certified organic and look forward to the day where all herbs and food are pesticide free.

Unfortunately, there are companies, health food stores, and even practitioners that sell sub optimal products. Although companies seem to all have the “highest quality herbs”, from our experience this is just not possible. In fact, most of the  highest grade herbs from China go to Korea and Japan. Americans do not get the highest quality because companies purposely purchase inferior (cheaper in cost) products and consumers pay little attention to where their herbs actually come from, putting way too much faith into companies’ marketing maneuvers.

Consequently, many products contain pesticide-ridden, low-quality or even substitute  herbs. Herbs that are made into pills, tinctures, or even ground up, are harder to evaluate because  visual inspection is impossible. This is one of many reasons we prefer to use bulk herbs in our clinic. Asking questions to help determine quality standards is always encouraged. All companies should be able to show you in-house testing of their products, but more importantly,  they should be able to show you unbiased third party testing.