Industry Updates and Other Happenings

Reported by Mountain Rose Herbs for the months of April-June 2004

All content and articles Copyright © 2004 Mountain Rose Herbs

 

Well its that time of year again, where last years seasonal crops have now been completely absorbed.

This is quite typical come March, where many of the crops from the previous season such as California Poppy, Horehound, Red Clover, and many other herbaceous perennials come to their annual end as world demand overwhelms available supply.

You can expect far reaching shortages for several key medicinal and culinary botanicals.

 

 

For months now the declining US dollar has devalued the purchasing power from US buyers of overseas goods. The result is often a 10-20% increase in the cost of these goods to help counter economic losses, which the overseas supplier may have had to absorb otherwise. In many cases Mountain Rose Herbs experienced growers, vendors, and distillers are asking for 10-15% more on invoices to help stave off the balance because of the declining dollar. As one could expect this will ultimately ripple down to the customer, and we fear that in the coming months there may be periodic, albeit minor price increases on material which we import.

 

As we are sure everybody now knows, the FDA has issued a statement declaring that all manufactured products containing Ephedrine alkaloids will be banned from public sale and distribution.

Through public scrutiny, and antagonizing gestures from the media, the FDA has determined publicly that the compound is "unsafe".

The ban will take effect in or around March 2004, and all resellers, distributors, manufacturers, and marketers of Ephedrine based products will have to pull the items from their product offerings and store shelves.

On a different note, the proposed ban does not have an immediate effect on bulk Ephedra herb, which the FDA has categorized separately as conventional food products, traditional Chinese medicine, and other tea/food ingredients. While users of the Ephedra in bulk may sigh in relief, it has not been determined whether or not the FDA will pursue criminalizing this material in the near future.

A more precise definition concerning the ban, and information related to it can be found at the FDA website.

http://www.fda.gov/oc/initiatives/ephedra/december2003

 


Over the past few weeks America's organic standards have once again come under heavy attack. First the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) announced on April 14 that they would no longer monitor or police "organic" labels on non-agricultural products, literally opening the door for unscrupulous companies to put bogus organic labels on products such as fish, body care products, pet foods, fertilizer, and clothing. Then on April 28 the Feds shocked everyone by announcing that pesticides, animal drugs, growth hormones, antibiotics, and tainted fishmeal would be allowed on organic farms. The OCA is working hard to stop the degradation of organic standards by the USDA and head-off the takeover of the organic market by corporate agribusiness and biotech interests. We are now launching a national campaign called SOS--Safeguard Organic Standards, to make sure that strict organic standards are maintained and that organic monitoring, certification, and policing extends to the full range of consumer products, including body care, clothing, pet food, fertilizer, and other items. Help the Organic Consumers Association with protecting organic standards.

http://www.organicconsumers.org

 

After a 6 month trial completion of a full scale analytical and microbiological lab, Mountain Rose Herbs now feels comfortable and confident in the quality of its analytical assay of botanical products. New technologies being utilised include bacterial and food borne illness identification, pesticide and chemical residue testing, botanical identity reports, and much more. Certificates of Analysis are being generated daily, and currently there are COMPLETE reports avilable for a majority of our botanical products.

To learn more see..... http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/bulkherb/quality.php