GROWING
DEMAND
An estimated three-quarters of the world’s population have used or
are using some type of herbal supplement, and the demand for safe,
reliable herbal remedies is increasing in the United States, Canada,
Europe, and India. This is particularly true among people who turn
to complementary, or integrative, care. This care combines standard
medical care with practices such as herbal medicine, massage,
meditation, and acupuncture to manage a range of physical and mental
health conditions. For example, the prestigious Cleveland Clinic’s
Center for Integrative Medicine in Ohio offers services—including
herbal therapy—to help address the physical, emotional, and spiritual
needs of its patients. Other health-care systems such as California-
based Kaiser Permanente hospitals and Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic
also offer integrative care programs. Medical providers stress that
such treatments can be effective if they are added to—and not used as
replacements for—conventional medical care.
While herbal products are extremely popular, consumer confidence
in their safety is declining because of publicized reports of supplement
contamination and manufacturing problems. For example, in 2013 the
FDA found that 70 percent of the nation’s supplement companies put
consumers at risk through dirty equipment that transferred bacteria to
vitamins and pesticides to herbal products. These problems are driving
the demand for more research and testing of both new and established
herbal products.
For example, the University of California, San Francisco Medical
Center suggests changes to the regulation of herbal products to
improve their safety, including the following:
• Mandating safety tests similar to those required for over-the-
counter drugs
• Requiring health claims to be supported by data approved by
the FDA
• Ensuring that product labels provide an accurate list of all
ingredients
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DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS
