Are Your Herbal Supplements Safe?

Herbal supplements are over a $30 billion per year industry. And while it would be nice if you knew exactly what you are popping in your mouth, the fact of the matter is that herbal supplements are not regulated in the U.S.

In fact, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these supplements are actually considered safe until proven otherwise. This means that if a supplement is dangerous, it is sold, being bought and consumed by us before the FDA will take any action.

It’s actually quite disheartening – you purchase an herbal product as an alternative to a pharmaceutical drug and you may be swallowing fillers, additives, contaminants or an ingredient that can cause an allergic reaction.

But if we read the label, we should be fine, right?

Nope! A study published by BMC Medicine found that there are products on the market that do not contain any of the plant and other items they claim to. They concluded that “most of the herbal products tested were of poor quality, including considerable product substitution, contamination and use of fillers.”

Another study in 2013 found “that dietary supplements accounted for more than half of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Class I drug recalls between 2004 and 2012. The “Class I” designation means that the supplements contained ingredients with a reasonable probability of causing “serious adverse health consequences or death.”

It’s actually shocking. Many of these supplements could be harmless – containing only soybean, wheat and rice; they just won’t actually accomplish anything by taking them. But some can be dangerous. For example, a ginkgo and echinacea supplement were both found to be contaminated with black walnut, which can be deadly to someone with a nut allergy.

So what should you do if you still want an herbal substitute? Look for the Latin term of the herb on the supplement bottle to know the real ingredient and to look for a 3rd party approval seal by Consumer Labs, NSF or USP.