We all want the quality of items we purchase to be the best possible, and this is particularly so when it is something that we are going to take ourselves or give to our pets. But how can you be sure of the quality of the ingredients ? Many manufacturers will tell you that their ingredients are "of the highest quality", but how can you be sure if this is true or if it's just clever advertising jargon ?

The reason that quality is important is because it's the quality of the herbs that make the products effective. If the ingredients have been kept in poor conditions, are old and musty or have been exposed to the damp then the beneficial properties will have deteriorated and the product they are incorporated in will not be effective. We sometimes hear people say that they have tried using herbal products with only limited success and this may often be due to the quality of the products being in doubt. Subsequently when a high quality item is used the effective result they were looking for is obtained.

With herbal ingredients there are many different qualities available depending on the origin of the plant, the way it has been dried and the conditions in which it has kept before being incorporated into a product. Most importantly, of course, is that the plant used is actually the correct species and that it has not been adulterated with some other cheaper or inferior herb. Some herbs, such as Valerian, Rhubarb, Senna and Buckthorn have standards which are laid down in the British Pharmacopeia, but the majority do not.

To overcome this problem and provide a standard specification for all herbs, in 1971 the British Herbal Medicine Association produced the first edition of the British Herbal

Pharmacopeia (BHP). The latest 1990 edition is now used by the medical and scientific professions as a standard work for checking herb quality and specifications. The BHP gives definitions and standards of purity for all herbs as well as macroscopical and microscopical descriptions. It lays down the way in which the herb should be indentified using laboratory techniques such as thin layer chromatology and also the storage and preparation requirements to ensure the continued presence of the efficacious ingredients throughout the shelf life of the product in which it is included.

Licensed herbal medicines have to conform to these specifications and identification tests, so that you can be sure that any LICENSED herbal medicine, which is identified by a Vm number on the label, will contain this quality of ingredients and therefore be effective. Unfortunately, there is no such requirement for unlicensed herbal products, which include vitamins and many of the dried, powdered and liquid mixes that are available today. Regrettably, tests on some of these products have shown that some suppliers adulterate the herbs with up to 70% of a cheaper product and in some liquids the amount of the herb shown on the label as being included in the product has been too small to even indentify ! These inferior, cheaper ingredients can be used by manufacturers who are inexperienced in herbal products and do not test the materials before including them in their products. Because of the lack of regulations these products can, and sometimes are, produced in unhygenic conditions which most dog owners would find totally unacceptable but of which they are not aware.

What can we all as consumers do to make sure that we are getting good quality herbal products that will work ? Firstly, always use a Licensed medicine if possible, as this means you can be sure of the quality and purity. However, when it is necessary to use an unlicensed herbal product, always buy from an experienced manufacturer and ask if the ingredients used

conform to the standards laid down in the British Herbal Pharmacopiea. Try to establish whether they are manufactured according to accepted standard practices in a satisfactory environment.

The British Herbal Medicine Association's veterinary committee, are actively encouraging all manufacturers of herbal medicines and supplements to employ proper quality control procedures for their products, whether licensed or unlicensed. Unfortunately, there will always be inexperienced manufactuers who use untested, cheaper ingredients which they can then retail at lower prices. However, these produce inferior quality products which are often ineffective and give the entire herbal industry an unprofessional reputation. It is important therefore that to obtain the best results, all consumers are vigilant in insisting on only using herbal products for themselves or their animals that have been made by experienced manufacturers using quality tested herbal ingredients. In this way, we can all help to ensure that the quality and therefore the effectiveness of this form of treatment is maintained, which will help restore its professional status as a viable and valuable form of medicine and most importantly will continue to be of enormous benefit to all our animals