Quality control needed fast for herbal remedies
SamPublished: Feb 3, 2006 8:08 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
I refer to the letter Herbal medicine: Don't believe the ads by Ibrahim Jantan.
The comments made by Ibrahim regarding the safety and efficacy of herbal remedies are indeed most timely since the usage of these types of medication are increasing very dramatically and this has inevitably caused many unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors to make increasingly outrageous claims of their products. But more disturbingly, many of these herbal remedies are often not properly manufactured and contain contaminants and additives' which form no part of the advertised herbal remedies concerned.
Nearly 80% of the raw material for the production of local herbal remedies is imported from countries such as India, China and Indonesia and is of very doubtful quality and origin. Adulteration of such imports with chemicals such as steroids and growth hormones is quite common meaning that many Malaysians are taking herbal remedies that may actually be slowly poisoning them.
The Malaysian government is placing a very high reliance on biotechnology and the production of herbal remedies from native plants as one of its cornerstones for the long-term health and growth of the economy. However, this will come to nothing unless the issues of 'quality control' and 'verification' are quickly addressed so that Malaysian herbal remedies can be viewed both here and worldwide as of high and reliable quality.
Many of the problems associated with the quality control of herbal and other natural remedies are derived from the fact that such remedies produced from whole plants or extracts of whole plants contain a huge number of chemical compounds and cannot be empirically identified and verified This is unlike pharmaceutical products which contain only one or two chemical compounds. This means that it has been easy in the past for unscrupulous people to adulterate herbal remedies without the risk of being exposed for their illegal activities.
However, just recently the situation has changed very dramatically with the introduction into Malaysia of a new technology which for the first time allows herbal remedies to be subjected to accurate scientific analysis in such a way that a 'fingerprint' of each herbal remedy can be produced which can be used as a standard against which all products can be measured and the general public protected from adulterated products which make outrageous and inaccurate claims.
Such as technology with is called TQP (Total Quality Profiling) uses magnetic resonance imaging and has now received patents worldwide. Its widespread introduction into the herbal remedy industry and employment by all government regulatory bodies such as the Ministry of Health, Sirim, FRIM, etc. will give a huge boost to public confidence and also enable the legitimate herbal industry of Malaysia to produce verifiably reliable herbal remedies that will be accepted both here and in the potentially huge worldwide market.
The comments made by Ibrahim regarding the safety and efficacy of herbal remedies are indeed most timely since the usage of these types of medication are increasing very dramatically and this has inevitably caused many unscrupulous manufacturers and distributors to make increasingly outrageous claims of their products. But more disturbingly, many of these herbal remedies are often not properly manufactured and contain contaminants and additives' which form no part of the advertised herbal remedies concerned.
Nearly 80% of the raw material for the production of local herbal remedies is imported from countries such as India, China and Indonesia and is of very doubtful quality and origin. Adulteration of such imports with chemicals such as steroids and growth hormones is quite common meaning that many Malaysians are taking herbal remedies that may actually be slowly poisoning them.
The Malaysian government is placing a very high reliance on biotechnology and the production of herbal remedies from native plants as one of its cornerstones for the long-term health and growth of the economy. However, this will come to nothing unless the issues of 'quality control' and 'verification' are quickly addressed so that Malaysian herbal remedies can be viewed both here and worldwide as of high and reliable quality.
Many of the problems associated with the quality control of herbal and other natural remedies are derived from the fact that such remedies produced from whole plants or extracts of whole plants contain a huge number of chemical compounds and cannot be empirically identified and verified This is unlike pharmaceutical products which contain only one or two chemical compounds. This means that it has been easy in the past for unscrupulous people to adulterate herbal remedies without the risk of being exposed for their illegal activities.
However, just recently the situation has changed very dramatically with the introduction into Malaysia of a new technology which for the first time allows herbal remedies to be subjected to accurate scientific analysis in such a way that a 'fingerprint' of each herbal remedy can be produced which can be used as a standard against which all products can be measured and the general public protected from adulterated products which make outrageous and inaccurate claims.
Such as technology with is called TQP (Total Quality Profiling) uses magnetic resonance imaging and has now received patents worldwide. Its widespread introduction into the herbal remedy industry and employment by all government regulatory bodies such as the Ministry of Health, Sirim, FRIM, etc. will give a huge boost to public confidence and also enable the legitimate herbal industry of Malaysia to produce verifiably reliable herbal remedies that will be accepted both here and in the potentially huge worldwide market.
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