06.19.13
Helios CORP, Sante Fe, NM, has voiced its support for the efforts of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program in seeking more stringent guidelines for ID testing with regards to the management of adulteration in a variety of botanical categories. Particularly, the company focused on Black Cohosh, a popular herb used for support during menopause, which when adulterated has been linked to liver toxicity and vaginal bleeding.
Helios CEO Michael Jeffers stated, “I was amazed by the efforts of the American Botanical Council and director, Mark Blumenthal, to boldly bring the Black Cohosh adulteration problem forward, as noted in his June 11, 2013 webinar along with the deep research and published report by Steven Foster on May 28th. This problem extends to many other botanical categories matching this very serious problem that exists with Black Cohosh in U.S. markets. The extent of the adulteration of Black Cohosh in the U.S. markets could potentially represent up to a third of all Black Cohosh consumed in the U.S., as indicted in the Kenelly Report, and the crazy part is that this knowledge has been in the public domain for years.”
The Helios CORP CEO went on the explain how disconcerting these statistics were and how there could be a strong possibility that a significant percentage of these adulterated botanicals like Black Cohosh could be in the public domain, and in finished products. He shared that the evidence of Black Cohosh potentially linked to the liver toxicity issues in the Canadian studies and vaginal bleeding in the 2007 UK study (on top of the adulteration problem) lends deep concerns for the public safety of women when consuming Black Cohosh for menopause. Mr. Jeffers posed the question; “why isn’t this ingredient required to bear a warning label on finished Black Cohosh products as discussed in USP June 26, 2007?”
Mr. Jeffers’ statements reinforce Helios’s commitment to ID testing of their own branded botanical extracts in order to demonstrate consistent evidence and identity of the biomarkers in the company’s representative Certificates of Analysis.
Helios CEO Michael Jeffers stated, “I was amazed by the efforts of the American Botanical Council and director, Mark Blumenthal, to boldly bring the Black Cohosh adulteration problem forward, as noted in his June 11, 2013 webinar along with the deep research and published report by Steven Foster on May 28th. This problem extends to many other botanical categories matching this very serious problem that exists with Black Cohosh in U.S. markets. The extent of the adulteration of Black Cohosh in the U.S. markets could potentially represent up to a third of all Black Cohosh consumed in the U.S., as indicted in the Kenelly Report, and the crazy part is that this knowledge has been in the public domain for years.”
The Helios CORP CEO went on the explain how disconcerting these statistics were and how there could be a strong possibility that a significant percentage of these adulterated botanicals like Black Cohosh could be in the public domain, and in finished products. He shared that the evidence of Black Cohosh potentially linked to the liver toxicity issues in the Canadian studies and vaginal bleeding in the 2007 UK study (on top of the adulteration problem) lends deep concerns for the public safety of women when consuming Black Cohosh for menopause. Mr. Jeffers posed the question; “why isn’t this ingredient required to bear a warning label on finished Black Cohosh products as discussed in USP June 26, 2007?”
Mr. Jeffers’ statements reinforce Helios’s commitment to ID testing of their own branded botanical extracts in order to demonstrate consistent evidence and identity of the biomarkers in the company’s representative Certificates of Analysis.
