AHPA Develops New Extract Labeling Guidance

SILVER SPRING, Md.--On June 14, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) released its new guidance for retail labeling of dietary supplements containing soft or powdered botanical extracts. According to AHPA's Executive Committee, the new guidance was necessary because it sought to standardize product labeling in three areas.

Those areas are quantity, extract ratios and statement of manufacturing ranges. According to the Committee, the following guidelines are for guidance purposes only and manufacturers are not obligated to adopt them.

In terms of quantity, AHPA recommends that the total amount of the extract, including excipients, should be included in a statement about the total quantity. It is optional to disclose additional information about the percent of native extract in an extract.

In terms of extract ratios, AHPA guidance states that label disclosure of the extract ratio is optional. If disclosed, two numbers dictate what is in the extract. The first number represents the dried weight of the starting material; the second number is the amount of total extract when finished. Manufacturers must make a separate notation if, at the start, fresh material is used to determine the ratio.

In terms of statements of manufacturing ranges, the guidance determines that label disclosure about varying native extract or concentration ratios from lot to lot are optional, but common forms have been established for such disclosure. A manufacturing range may be stated by either the actual range or an average of the range.

The guidance will be published in the Summer 2000 issue of the AHPA Report. For a copy of the guidance prior to publication, call Cheyenne Hooker at (301) 588-1171, ext. 100. AHPA is online at www.ahpa.org.