CHM Sites and Ginseng Labelling

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

 

What are YOUR favourite Websites for professional data on CHM?

wrote [re Ginseng Labelling]:

> ... since so many chinese herbs are misidentified, but still sold

> anyway, I see no problem with this. It mainly affects those who

> stand to make a profit on direct to consumer sales. It should

> have zero effect on professional practice and informed consumers.

> I will prevent deception.

 

Hopefully, accurate labelling will prevent deception. However, without

good quality control, there is still the possibility of fraud. A label can

state anything but make fraudulent claims.

 

There simply is not enough wild ginseng available to supply demand.

Because it is VERY expensive [could it possibly be $300,000/kg, as

stated below?], most ginseng products are cultivated. Even then,

they are expensive and unscrupulous suppliers often yield to the

temptation to adulterate their products with cheap substitutes.

 

Paraphrasing one source [

http://alternativehealing.org/ren_shen.htm ]:

 

Price & Quality: Chinese Manchuria wild ginseng roots fetch highest

prices, up to US $300000/kg. Top quality American wild ginseng

roots can fetch US$ 1200-2000/kg. Cultivated American roots sell

for US $120-260/kg. Ginseng is sold in powder form, in capsules, &

in extract. Better quality roots are sold in root form. Since ginseng is

expense & difficult to produce, adulteration/substitution w cheaper

products is very common in packaged ginseng products. Some

manufactured " ginseng " products contain Mandragora officinarum

(mandrake, a poisonous narcotic) w hyoscine bromide, rauwolfia

alkaloids w hypertensive drug reserpine, cola w caffeine,

phenylbutazone (a carcinogen), & aminopyrine. An independent test

commissioned by health food trade journal “Whole Foods” found

that 60% of ginseng products are worthless because they contained

too little of herb to have any biological effect; 25% contained no

ginseng at all

 

That site [ http://alternativehealing.org/ ] has some very good data on

CHM, but other sites have great data also [www.chinaginseng.com,

RHMI, Botanicum, Crane Herbs, NewCenturyNutrition, etc; see

http://homepage.eircom.net/~prohers/herblink.htm for other sites].

 

The best CHM site that I know is the Korean site [Tradimed]. It has

unbelievable detail and cross-referencing, but it is costly to join.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

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