NY attorney general targets popular herbal supplements

http://www.sfgate.com/news/medical/a...al-6058652.php

"The supplements, including echinacea, ginseng, St. John's wort, garlic, ginkgo biloba and saw palmetto, were contaminated with substances including rice, beans, pine, citrus, asparagus, primrose, wheat, houseplant and wild carrot. In many cases, unlisted contaminants were the only plant material found in the product samples.


Overall, 21 percent of the test results from store brand herbal supplements contained DNA from the plants listed on the labels. The retailer with the poorest showing was Walmart, where 4 percent of the products tested showed DNA from the plants listed on the labels."

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/sc...eem.html?_r=2&

"Of 44 herbal supplements tested, one-third showed outright substitution, meaning there was no trace of the plant advertised on the bottle — only another plant in its place.

Many were adulterated with ingredients not listed on the label, like rice, soybean and wheat, which are used as fillers.

In some cases, these fillers were the only plant detected in the bottle — a health concern for people with allergies or those seeking gluten-free products, said the study’s lead author, Steven G. Newmaster, a biology professor and botanical director of the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at the University of Guelph. "

This is an FYI for those who buy 'herbal remedies'...the FDA regulates drugs, not vitamins and such. So aspirin producers have to proof that their product is absorbed (bioavailable) and is nontoxic, but a bottle of vitamins is not regulated to be potent. And apparently bottles of herbals are not checked for possible toxicity or dangerous contaminants (nut allergies) in their products, not to mention actually having the listed herbs in their product.

Of course if the FDA does start to regulate things like the actually drugs, then the prices will go up. But at least then you might not be getting laxatives instead of St Johns Wort.