Herbalism

NutraCast: How Motherlove's 4-day work week boosts productivity

23-Jun-2023 By Danielle Masterson

Nearly 95% of people desire a flexible work schedule, with flexibility ranking only second to compensation when it comes to what determines workplace satisfaction. This is according to new research from Future Forum, Slack’s research consortium, which...

David Winston talks growth of the herbal industry and the importance of tradition

19-Dec-2022 By Asia Sherman

In his five decades as an ethnobotanist and herbalist, David Winston has witnessed and participated in the rise of an herbal industry that is much changed from the one he entered.

Supplement brand Herbalist & Alchemist celebrates 40 years in business as it plans move to new facility

16-Aug-2022 By Hank Schultz

Herbalist & Alchemist, a manufacturer of liquid dietary supplements, celebrated its 40th anniversary last week.

NutraWomen Wednesday: Audrey Ross, Senior National Educator at Country Life Vitamins

03-Aug-2022 By Danielle Masterson

Audrey Ross, ND, MH is a naturopath, educator and master herbalist. She joined Country Life Vitamins over a decade ago and serves as the Senior National Educator.

NutraWomen Wednesday: Charlotte Traas, Director of Sales Education and Training, New Chapter

06-Jul-2022 By Danielle Masterson

Charlotte Traas is a board certified master herbalist, ashwagandha expert and a self-described rebel. As the Director of Sales Education and Training at New Chapter, she’s developing content for training and representing the company as a national trainer...

NutraWomen Wednesday: Eliza Ganesh, CEO and Co-Founder, Sunwink

11-May-2022 By Danielle Masterson

Research suggests only about 1 in 5 C-suite executives are women, and while the issue of gender equity touches nearly every industry, female leadership in the food and beverage industries presents its own unique challenges, like mass-market heritage brands...

Ethnobotanical survey points to fragility of traditional medicine knowledge

28-Mar-2022 By Hank Schultz

A recent survey sheds light on the trove of ethnobotanical information held as a cultural asset by an indigenous people in a remote part of India. Experts say that such traditional knowledge is in danger of being extirpated as world urbanizes and industrializes...

Arizona naturopathic college’s new facility helping to create better botanical extracts

11-Mar-2022 By Hank Schultz

A substantial gift has helped a prominent naturopathic college in Arizona become a botanical research partner that can help companies produce products verified for their biological activity, school officials say.

Collaboration will make industry stronger, new AHPA science officer says

19-Jan-2018 By Hank Schultz

Increasing collaboration within the herbal industry will drive the sector forward. That’s one of the goals Holly Johnson, PhD, has in her new role as chief science officer of the American Herbal Products Association.

Commitment to efficacy drives woman brand holder

17-Oct-2017 By Hank Schultz

The CEO of a new women-owned and women-focused supplement company said her personal journey researching products led to the creation of her new brand.

HerbalGram Herb Market Report for 2016

Ayurvedic herbs’ rise continues as turmeric & ashwagandha post big YOY growth

11-Sep-2017 By Stephen Daniells

Turmeric/curcumin continues to be a standout performer in the herbal sector with data from the HerbalGram Herb Market Report for 2016 showing massive growth across both mass and natural retail channels.

Special Edition: Personalized Nutrition

For personalization know-how, seek out a practicing herbalist

07-Sep-2017 By Hank Schultz

Traditional herbal practices can help inform the process of personalization in dietary supplements, experts in the field say.

Herbal supplements all too often ignore underlying principles, experts say

14-Jul-2017 By Hank Schultz

Fitting ingredients that come out of traditional medical systems into the modern marketplace can be a fraught exercise, experts say.

Claims on adaptogens might overreach, but the herbs really are powerhouses, experts say

29-Mar-2017 By Hank Schultz

The comprehensive properties of adaptogens could lead marketers to overblown claims, but experts familiar with these ingredients say their many benefits really do lend themselves to ‘magic pill’-type language.

ABC's Blumenthal wins ethnopharmacology award

28-Feb-2017 By Hank Schultz

Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council has added to his list of awards and accolades with a recognition from an Indian group.

NBTY to DNA barcode herbal ingredients after agreement with NY AG

29-Sep-2016 By Stephen Daniells

Supplement giant NBTY has reached an agreement with NY AG Eric Schneiderman to use DNA Barcoding to authenticate herbal ingredients and invest in herbal genetic research.

Special Edition: Botanicals

Turmeric leads the charge as herbal sales continue to bloom

22-Sep-2016 By Stephen Daniells

With 118% growth in the mass channel and 32% growth in the natural channel, turmeric/curcumin was the stand-out ingredient in 2015, with overall sales for the ingredient exceeding $50 million in mass & natural channels.

Observers say Harvard anti-supplements article so poorly done as to be 'embarrassing'

25-Apr-2016 By Hank Schultz

A recent Harvard publication blasting supplements as ‘suspect’ and ‘useless’ was criticized by industry observers as ‘unbalanced’ and even ‘embarrassing.’

ABC Community Builder Award recipient announced

08-Mar-2016 By Stephen Daniells

The American Botanical Council has announced that Michael Tierra, LAc, OMD, AHG, is the recipient of the 2015 ABC Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award.

‘Herbal Ed’ Smith named ABC Champion Award recipient

07-Mar-2016 By Stephen Daniells

Ed Smith, medical herbalist and co-founder of Herb Pharm, has been named the recipient of the American Botanical Council’s second Champion Award.

Herbalist & Alchemist recertified as B Corp

23-Feb-2016 By Stephen Daniells

Herbalist & Alchemist has again been certified as a B Corporation, confirming the herbal products company’s high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.

Better training could bolster herbalists' standing in medical sphere, expert says

13-Jan-2016 By Hank Schultz

More specific training for herbalists as a way to bolster professional bona fides could go a long way toward burnishing the herbal industry’s image with the medical community, though it might not mean as much to consumers, a leader educator says.

Niche ought to be carved out of GMP compliance picture for ultra small herb companies, experts say

23-Dec-2015 By Hank Schultz

A place ought to be found within the regulation of the dietary supplement sector for artisanal herbal companies that might struggle with some of FDA’s more labyrinthine strictures on identity testing, experts say.

Supplement sales continue to rise: SPINS data

17-Dec-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Sales of dietary supplements and herbal supplements are up about 4% and 17%, respectively, for 2015 compared to 2014, according to new data from SPINS provided to NutraIngredients-USA.

The NY AG’s herbal probe so far: From GNC to devil’s claw

11-Sep-2015 By Stephen Daniells

It started with cease and desist letters to four major retailers and then grew and grew. A lot has happened since NY AG Eric Schneiderman launched his investigation into herbal supplement quality.

Schneiderman takes 13 devil's claw manufacturers to task over species intermixing that experts say is 'non-issue'

10-Sep-2015 By Hank Schultz

NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sent cease and desist letters to 13 companies marketing devil’s claw supplements claiming the products fraudulently mixed one species of the botanical with a closely related species. Herbal experts, however, say...

How are herbal supplement sales post NY AG? Better than last year...

03-Aug-2015 By Stephen Daniells

Sales of herbal formula supplements are up almost 13% compared to the same time last year, according to new data from SPINS provided to NutraIngredients-USA.

Dispatches from Vitafoods Europe

ABC taps into European herbal insights via new advisory board member

09-Jun-2015 By Hank Schultz

Europe, and especially Germany, has historically been a hotbed of herbal lore, science and product development. The American Botanical Council recently tapped into this knowledge in a more fundamental way by adding Joerg Gruenwald, PhD, to its advisory...

Schneiderman agrees to open 'dialogue' with NPA via joint statement

11-May-2015 By Hank Schultz

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has agreed to enter into a “dialogue” with the Natural Products Association over his assault on herbal dietary supplements, the organization confirmed in a joint statement today.

Botanical Adulterants Program endorsed by four international health professional groups

06-May-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium, American Herbalists Guild, and Irish Register of Herbalists have thrown their support behind the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program.

Gaia Herbs: Our sales are growing as consumers move to a brand they trust

23-Mar-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

Consumers are not turning their backs on herbal supplements in response to the NY AG’s probe, but are shifting to brands they can trust, says Gaia Herbs, with the North Carolina company reporting impressive sales growth year-on-year.

What opportunities are there in the NY AG botanical probe?

16-Mar-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The New York Attorney General’s investigation into herbal supplements has been headline news for over a month, but for every problem there is an opportunity. NutraIngredients-USA caught up with some industry giants to see if there is a silver lining in...

Leading British herbal organizations endorse Botanical Adulterants Educational Program

30-Jan-2015 By Stephen DANIELLS

The National Institute of Medical Herbalists (NIMH) and the British Herbal Medicine Association (BHMA) have thrown their support behind the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program.

Organoleptic ID of botanicals still valid if supported with documentation, experts say

14-Jan-2015 By Hank Schultz

A recent FDA warning letter to a company making products based on whole dandelion parts and other herbs seems to call into question whether organoleptic identification of incoming botanical specimens still passes muster as far as the agency is concerned....

KSM-66 Ashwagandha gets Non-GMO Project verification

16-Oct-2014

Ixoreal Biomed has achieved Non-GMO Project verification for its KSM-66 ashwagandha-branded ingredient.

Knowledge base of herbal products sector is waning, pioneer fears

06-Jun-2014 By Hank Schultz

As the herbal products industry develops the question arises of whether some of the knowledge that drove the initial spate of creativity in the pre- and post-DSHEA period is being lost as founders retire. At least one industry pioneer fears that is the...

AHPA’s new members represent diverse sectors of the botanical industry

23-Apr-2014

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has welcomed 15 companies as new members in 2014, with the new members including ingredient suppliers, contract manufacturers, finished products makers, and more.

Herb Pharm rollouts aim for 'transitional natural consumers'

14-Apr-2014 By Maggie Hennessy

With the launch of three new herbal supplements headlined by such widely appealing ingredients as turmeric and ginger, Herb Pharm looks to broaden its consumer base beyond the so-called “lifestyles of health & sustainability” (LOHAS) consumer to the...

Future looks increasingly bright for herbal supplements, market researcher says

11-Mar-2014 By Hank Schultz

The economic downturn has had a depressing effect on new product launches in the herbal dietary supplement industry, said Steve French, managing director of the Natural Marketing Institute. But the good news is that opportunity abounds, in that herbal...

'American' herbal organizations adopt increasingly global perspective

10-Feb-2014 By Hank Schultz

The US dietary supplement market, nourished by the streamlined regulatory structure put into place by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, is the most vibrant in the world. But that hasn’t stopped the three leading organizations devoted to...

Adulterants program to be priority for Stefan Gafner, ABC's new chief science officer

20-Sep-2013 By Hank Schultz

Stefan Gafner, PhD, the new chief scientific officer of the American Botanical Council, said he chose to work with the organization because it aligned with his overall goals as a scientist in the herbal products industry.

Herbal supplement sales rose 5.5% in US in 2012, ABC says

19-Aug-2013 By Hank Schultz

Herbal dietary supplement sales increased 5.5% in the United States in 2012 according a new report in HerbalGram, the publication of the American Botanical Council.

HerbDay celebrates role of medicinal plants in human health

02-May-2013 By Hank Schultz

The annual HerbDay national celebration, whose 8th edition is set for this Saturday, May 4, was begun as a way to rember the important role herbs play in health and have played in human history, says one of the event’s founders.

ABC honors ‘Godmother of American Herbalism’ with 1st Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award

21-Feb-2013

Renowned herbalist, teacher, and author Rosemary Gladstar has been named the recipient of the American Botanical Council’s first Mark Blumenthal Herbal Community Builder Award.

Herbal supplement sales hit $5.3 billion, ABC report says

05-Sep-2012 By Hank Schultz

A report in the latest issue of HerbalGram, the publication of the American Botanical Council, shows herbal supplements sales in all channels hit $5.3 billion in the United States in 2011, representing a healthy 4.3% increase from 2010.

Herbals need better regulation to overcome quality control challenges, say researchers

15-Mar-2012 By Nathan Gray

Implementing better growing and manufacturing processes along with increasing the use of modern analytical techniques and greater international regulation would ‘undoubtedly’ reduce the issues surrounding the quality of herbal extracts, say researchers.