The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program has gained more than 100 underwriters and endorsers, including some of the biggest names in the botanical and dietary supplement community—botanical dietary ingredient suppliers, supplement manufacturers, trade and professional associations, colleges and universities, analytical laboratories, contract research organizations, media companies and law firms.

Three leading non-profit organizations—the American Botanical Council (ABC), the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) and the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR)—initiated this ongoing program in 2011 to educate members of the herbal and dietary supplement industry and numerous other stakeholders in the herb, dietary supplement and natural medicine arenas about ingredient and product authenticity and adulteration.

“We are deeply gratified by the huge outpouring of support that we have received on this vitally needed educational program,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC, and program manager. “Wherever we have gone to solicit financial, technical and other types of support, we have almost always received a positive response. This reflects the high level of concern that many responsible elements in the herb and natural health community—including, but not limited to, the herb and dietary supplement industry—have about the quality and reliability of herbal supplements, teas, etc. Even though it’s apparent that there are many authentic, high-quality, reliable ingredients and products, the fact remains that there are identity and quality problems that have persisted far too long, and now many of us are circling the wagons to reduce and hopefully eliminate some of the errors and fraud that exist in this field.”

The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program focuses on both accidental adulteration that may occur due to inadequate quality-control procedures, as well as intentional adulteration of plant-based ingredients for financial gain. In an industry that saw sales rise 4.5% in 2011 to an estimated figure of nearly $5.3 billion in herbal dietary supplement product retail sales in the U.S. alone, documented cases of adulteration of raw materials (i.e., problems related to ingredient authenticity and quality), is a matter of growing concern.

Title 21 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines adulteration as the “Addition of an impure, cheap, or unnecessary ingredient to cheat, cheapen, or falsify an ingredient or preparation.” The Code also deems a product adulterated ”if any substance has been added thereto or mixed or packed therewith so as to increase its bulk or weight, or reduce its quality or strength, or make it appear better or of greater value than it is.”

The primary intention of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program is to help protect consumers and responsible members of the herb and dietary supplement industry, as well as other manufacturers, from purchasing adulterated raw materials. This is done by the program’s publishing a series of detailed articles that serve as an authoritative source of information on botanical adulterants. These articles contain references to published official and unofficial analytical methods for company and/or third-party quality control laboratories to consider using to detect the presence (or absence) of known adulterants.