Does the FDA check how herbal products are manufactured?
Again, no. The manufacturing of prescription drugs is supervised by the FDA and guided by a set of guidelines called Good Manufacturing Process. No government agency, including the FDA, independently verifies the production of herbal products. In addition, manufacturers of herbal products do not have to follow Good Manufacturing Process standards. Therefore, herbal products could potentially be contaminated with microorganisms, pesticides or toxic metals, and adulterated with other herbs or drugs. Also, the potency and amount per pill may vary significantly within the same bottle, from batch-to-batch, or from one branded product to another because of variable manufacturing processes. Are the active ingredients of herbal products known? Generally not, and this is a major limitation to taking herbal products. For example, it is generally assumed that the active ingredient in St. John’s wort is hypericin, and St. John’s wort products are generally made to be 0.3 percent hypericin. However
