Consumers want to ensure their supplements are as healthy as the foods they eat. One way to do this is for consumers to apply the same criteria they use to select healthier foods to their selection of supplements. Choosing only organic foods and supplements, for example, is one way to guarantee that extra measures have been taken by growers or manufacturers to deliver foods and products which are free of pesticides and other common but harmful additives. By reducing or eliminating the presence of these substances in your diet, you can minimize your risks and maximize your potential benefits.
However, purchasing organic products often adds to a consumer’s costs. Organic foods come at a premium because of the additional labor and vetting steps that must be taken throughout their production before they reach buyers. But can you expect the same level of safety and effectiveness if a supplement is not USDA-Certified Organic? The answer is yes: adequate quality control and assurance can provide consumers with products that are as safe as organic ones without the added costs. By choosing to buy products from manufacturers who take comprehensive measures to ensure quality, consumers can enjoy all of the same benefits they do with organic products.
What defines an organic product?
Organically-grown foods and herbs have many potential benefits to the consumer, the environment, and even growers. For foods to be labeled certified organic, they must satisfy the USDA’s requirements which specify that they must:
- Have been grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals;
- Have not been grown on land where these substances or chemicals have been applied;
- Have been grown and processed in accordance with an organic plan reviewed by a certifying agent.
These standards protect the public against a wide variety of contaminants that can present unknown threats to the body and health of consumers.
With the potential advantages of organic certification, consumers may wonder when — if ever — they should settle for conventionally grown food and herbs. The answer is that consumers may not have to select organic herbs or supplements to get the safety and benefits they expect. Manufacturers who abide by the highest sourcing and quality standards can offer many, if not all, of the same benefits as organic producers of the same supplements.
Can stringent sourcing and quality control deliver products as safe and effective as organic versions?
Yes, they can. Here’s why. First, Kaiser Pharmaceuticals has deep and long-standing relationships with each of its suppliers, allowing the company to verify a grower’s methods and select to do business only with suppliers that follow best practices in cultivation and operate in a highly ethical manner. By choosing to do business with only top-tier herb growers, KP can prevent contaminated or inauthentic herbs from ever entering its production facilities.
Second, KP has adopted, implemented, and rigorously follows a multi-step approach to vetting the herbs which it accepts from its suppliers, further ensuring that only the highest-quality and uncontaminated products reach distributors and end-consumers. KP’s approach includes species identification as well as tests for contaminants. KP subjects all batches of inputs to:
- Species Authentication — species are verified by appearance, microscopic analysis, physical and chemical identification, and chemical “fingerprinting” to eliminate inauthentic herbs from use;
- Heavy Metals — KP screens for five highly-toxic heavy metals, including lead, copper, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP- MS), a state-of-the-art technique;
- Pesticides — KP uses dual chromatography methods to identify the presence of these pesticides and reject contaminated herbs;
- Sulfur Dioxide — this substance can help preserve dry herbs but also adversely impact their quality, safety, and effectiveness; KP ensures that its herbs contain no traces of this substance;
- Aflatoxins — KP verifies that its products do not contain highly-toxic and possibly carcinogenic variants of aflatoxins and eliminates any compromised herbs from its production processes;
- Aristolochic Acid — this acid is believed to have links to cancer, acute fibrosis, and Belgian Chinese Herbs Nephropathy (CHN), a serious condition; KP examines raw herbs for this acid and eliminates any with its traces.
In addition to the above tests, KP also adheres to the specific safety standards adopted by each country in which its products are sold — including the U.S., E.U., Japan, and Singapore — making its products among the highest-quality and safest herbal supplements in the world.
Every batch of herbs KP produces is accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis (COA), attesting to the results of these stringent quality tests and asserting its verified status. KPC Herbs’ distributors, and ultimately the consumer, can have the highest confidence that the herbs they have purchased and will consume will always be as free from those substances.
So then, why does KPC also offer organic products? KPC Herbs offers organic herbs and formulas because we wish to satisfy those customers who insist on purchasing only certified- organic herbal supplements. While organic certification is not needed to ensure the highest safety and quality, making these products available to our customers is yet another way that KPC Herbs tries to cater to all of our customers.
KPC Herbs Offers its Customers High-quality Herbs with a Diverse Array of Buying Options
KPC Herbs emphasizes quality and choice across all of its product offerings so that regardless of which herb or formula you select, you can enjoy the benefits you expect with the utmost safety. Whether you choose to have organically-certified herbs and formulas or one of our many other fully-vetted and quality-assured products, you will always have the very best version of the supplements available to you. This philosophy has guided our company over the last 150 years and still guides us today. To learn more about our product range or manufacturing methodology or get put in touch with your closest distributor, please contact us today by calling (949) 398-8158 or filling out our online contact form here.
We hope to continue to be your trusted provider of herbs and formulas and remain so for many years to come. We wish you the best of health!
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*Please note: These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This article is not intended to suggest specific treatments for patients or that any supplements mentioned prevent or cure diseases or problems. Before taking any herbs, all patients should discuss their options with a licensed practitioner, including any other medications the patient is currently taking, as there may be contraindications between pharmaceuticals and herbs.
