AUSTIN, Texas—The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) endorsed the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program, an international consortium of nonprofit organizations, analytical laboratories, industry members, professional scientists, and others that advises industry, health professionals, and researchers about the various challenges related to adulterated herb and botanical ingredients sold in commerce.
IADSA, an international organization of trade associations composed of suppliers and manufacturers of dietary supplements, gave notice of its support in a letter dated August 3 from Simon Pettman, IADSA executive director, to Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) and general manager of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program. In the letter, Pettman said, “…IADSA is constantly seeking ways in which to improve standards within the global industry and demonstrate that dietary supplements are a category of products that deserve the trust of decision-makers in government. We consider that your program will help us move forward on both these objectives and in time will provide real consumer benefits."
According to its website, IADSA has 48 member associations, representing thousands of companies worldwide.
Adulteration refers to the accidental or intentional substitution or dilution of a material with an undisclosed lower-cost ingredient, thereby giving the consumer or user a false sense of the value of an ingredient or product containing such an adulterated ingredient.
The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program is a coalition of three American nonprofit groups: ABC, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), with more than 130 other American and international parties supporting and cooperating with the Program.
“The endorsement of our program by IADSA signifies not only the global nature of the problem of adulteration in the botanical supply chain, but also represents the concerns of many responsible, forward-thinking members of the herb and dietary supplement industry in 33 countries regarding this significant problem, and their confidence in and cooperation with the educational work we are doing," said ABC’s Blumenthal. “IADSA’s involvement constitutes a quantum leap in the program’s level of activity," he added.
IADSA’s endorsement of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program follows similar endorsements made last year by the international Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (known by its German acronym, GA) and the American Society of Pharmacognosy (ASP). The GA and ASP are the two largest organizations of professional researchers in the field of medicinal plants and drugs of natural origin.