American Herbal Products Association AHPA

American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) www.ahpa.org... 

There are several limitations that lead to potential for patient harm with the current regulation of herbals under the DSHEA. First, botanical nomenclature is not standardized. Common names for herbals may vary depending on the region of the country. A single herb may have more than a dozen common names (e.g., echinacea), or one common herbal name may refer to several different species (e.g., yellowroot and snakeroot). To avoid confusion, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has published Herbs of Commerce, a text of more than 500 herbs with the preferred common name, Latin binomial, and appropriate synonyms. 

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), which was founded in 1983 to promote the responsible commerce of products that contain herbs, is now in the United States the national trade association and voice of the herbal products industry. It is comprised of companies doing business as growers, manulacturers, and marketers of herbs and herbal products. AHPA has been active in creating standards for herbal products, and has done so by drawing on the expertise of its members and their extensive experience. 

Reports of acute liver toxicity associated with consumption of chaparral surfaced from 1990 through 1997, leading to the issuance of a warning by the FDA to cease consumption of chaparral (FDA 1992). The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) initiated a review of four cases (Watt et al. 1994) and found the reported toxicity to be due to idiosyncratic reactions in persons with preexisting liver conditions. The authors concluded, and AHPA recommended in 1995, that products containing chaparral should be labeled with the following cautionary statement Seek advice from... 

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) recommends the following labeling for products that contain Aloe spp. latex, Prangula alnus bark, Frangula purshiana bark, Rhamnus catahrtica fruit. Rheum spp. root/rhizome, and Senna spp. fruit (pod) and leaf ... 

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), through its Standards Committee, convened a special Subcommittee (hereinafter "the Committee") to address this need. The Committee members identified considerable safety data in varied texts and journals and discovered that some attempts to classify herbs had been undertaken in several other countries. No comprehensive compilation or review of this data for botanical ingredients sold in the North American marketplace, however, was available in a useful format. 

This second edition of AHPA s Botanical Safety Handbook represents a significant modification from the first edition, published in 1997. At the same time, the second edition reflects the continued commitment of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) to provide accurate information about the safe use of herbs in a practical and accessible format. 

American Herbal Products Association (AHPA). 1992. Herbs of Commerce. American Herbal Products Association, Austin, TX. 

AHPA. July 2011. Code of Ethics Business Conduct. Silver Spring, MD American Herbal Products Association. Majlathova, L. 1971. [Feeding trial with alkannin on mice]. Nahrung 15(5) 505-508. 

The American Herbal Products Association has established a trade requirement (AHPA 2011) that products containing this herb in sufficient quantity to warrant such labeling bear the following label statement ... 

AHPA. July 2011. Code of Ethics Business Conduct. Silver Spring, MD American Herbal Products Association. 

The American Herbal Products Association has established a trade requirement (AHPA 2011) that dietary supplement products that contain caffeine, whether as a direct ingredient or as a constituent of herbal ingredients, be labeled to disclose the presence of caffeine in the product and the quantity of added caffeine if greater than 25 mg be formulated and labeled in a manner to recommend a maximum of 200 mg of caffeine per serving, not more often than every 3 to 4 hours and bear the following or similar statement on the label of any dietary supplement that contains caffeine in sufficient quantity to warrant such labeling ... 

The American Herbal Products Association has established a trade requirement (AHPA 2011) that all products with botanical ingredients that contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, including Eupatorium species, are not offered for sale for internal use and display the following cautionary label "For external use only. Do not apply to broken or abraded skin. Do not use when nursing."... 

Cautious restrictions on the use of all of the herbs containing unsaturated (toxic) PAs have been recommended by the American Herbal Products Association, with suggestions to limit use to external application on unbroken skin only, and to refrain from use while nursing (AHPA 2011). All use is contraindicated in pregnancy and in persons with a history of liver disease. 

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