The American Botanical Council (ABC), Austin, TX, has changed the name of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program. Effective immediately, the program will be known as the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program.
 
ABC and its partners at the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP) and the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi decided to add “Prevention” to the name in order to emphasize the purpose and intent of the program.
 
Initiated in 2010, with its first publications released in 2011, the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (with its new acronym BAPP) has dedicated itself to helping prevent industry use of adulterated raw materials, botanical extracts, and essential oils. This is achieved via the publication of credible and authoritative peer-reviewed documents, interviews with trade media, speeches at industry and professional conferences, and direct consultation with members of the industry.
 
“The program’s goal has always focused on prevention,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of ABC and founder and director of BAPP. “What we’ve been trying to do is alert industry members about specific botanical materials that we have confirmed as being adulterated, and counsel industry on the optimum laboratory analytical methods to help determine authenticity of botanical ingredients. By adding the word ‘Prevention’ to the name, we are making our intention clearer to all stakeholders.”
 
“The name ‘ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program’ more accurately reflects the overarching goal of the program,” said Stefan Gafner, PhD, chief science officer of ABC and technical director of BAPP. “Our initiative strives to give members of the herb and dietary supplement industries the necessary tools to avoid being duped by suppliers of ingredients that have been accidentally or purposefully adulterated, so that products on the market are authentic and provide the benefits that consumers expect.”
 
“In short,” Dr. Gafner continued, “we try to prevent adulterated products from reaching the shelves. This is mainly done through dissemination of information about known cases of adulteration and by reviewing analytical test methods to promote the optimal laboratory analytical testing practices for the industry.”
 
Roy Upton, director of AHP, said: “The addition of ‘Prevention’ to our program’s name gets to the heart of what it is we hope to achieve in doing this work — prevent adulteration from happening both by shining a light on what is happening in the marketplace and by providing the tools needed for companies and quality control personnel to know exactly what to look for.”