Chinese Food Products Coming Under Scrutiny (And It's OK!)

Several food and household products manufactured in China have come under international scrutiny lately. As you may have heard, some of these products have been found to contaminated or poorly manufactured. Some of these products were sold in China and, unfortunately, some were sold overseas where they found their way into local industries.

1.) 900,000 tubes of toothpaste distributed to mental institutions, prisons and juvenile detention facilities in Georgia were found to have been contaminated with diethylene glycol, which is often found in antifreeze. The toothpaste was made in China.

2.) U.S. healthofficials said that they were detaining three types of Chinese fish — catfish, basa and dace — as well as shrimp and eel after repeated testing has turned up contamination with drugs unapproved in the United States for use in farmed seafood. Most of these drugs are antibiotics. The officials said there was no immediate health risk and stopped short of ordering an outright ban. The FDA said sampling of Chinese imported fish between October and May repeatedly found traces of the antibiotics nitrofuran and fluoroquinolone, as well as the antifungals malachite green and gentian violet.

3.) Several pieces of the "Thomas the Train" wooden train sets were found to have been painted with paint that may have contained lead. The RC2 Corporation, the U.S. distributor, issued an immediate recall.

4.) This spring, 154 brands of pet food were recalled after tainted ingredients that killed an unknown number of cats and dogs were traced to two Chinese companies by the Food and Drug Administration.

As a seller of Chinese medicinals and food products, of course, I take a very close look at this and realize that my patients are as well. And they should. We're talking about your health.

Our main herbal supplier is Evergreen Herbs, based in La Puente, CA. Their herbs are grown in Taiwan and assembled in Nevada, in the good ol' US-of-A. The owner, John Chen, is an esteemed member of the pharmocology department at USC. I believe in their products, both in effectiveness and purity.

The remaining herbal products we offer are based upon the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) seal and authorization. The GMP seal ensures that the product has been certified by the Department of Health, Republic of China based on the standards of the Commonwealth Department of Health, Australia. The best manufacturers go beyond GMP requirements when testing for bacteria, including E. Coli and Salmonella, as well as the heavy metals which are common soil contaminants in various parts of China.

In 1998, China's State Drug Administration first decided that all pharmaceutical manufacturers must meet GMP standards and obtain GMP certification before June 30, 2004. They then reissued the GMP regulations in 1999. In April 2003, SDA was renamed the State Food and Drug Administration. Although SFDA authorized provincial drug administrations to accelerate GMP examination in 2002, only about 3800 of the previous 6400 pharmaceutical manufacturers met GMP regulations as of July 1, 2005. As a practitioner, I am familair with the manufacturers than are reputable in this industry and deal only with them and their products. Just as the auto industry has stalwarts such as Volvo and Mercedes and other more dubious models such as the Yugo or the Pinto, so it is with the Chinese herbal industry. Unfortunately, it's the Pintos of the world that get all the headlines and not the steady reliable models.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the overwhelming majority of problems specific to Chinese herbs has been due to complete misuse by unscrupulous and untrained providers. We provide herbs to children as young as 2 years old, and have never had a problem. Of course, concurrent medications and health history determine herbal usage in anyone and must be reviewed before prescribing.

I have been involved in Chinese health, spiritual and martial practices for many years and have taken, eaten and swallowed a lot of curious things (just pretend it's chicken). If you have a question about any product you have seen or heard about, give me a call and I will give you my honest opinion about it. If I don't know, I'll simply tell you, "I don't know". But I promise I will not sell pet food.

Chinese Herbs at Quail Botanical gardens

Kristen and I spent our Labor Day at the Quail Botanical Gardens in Encinitas, CA. This is a wonderful and large collection of plants and botanicals from around the world. Well worth visiting if you are in the area. They have a small area devoted to Chinese herbs and I thought I would share with you what those little capsules you take look like when they're still in the ground. This is after all, a natural style of medicine.

This is a picture of Tony standing next to a Chinese cinnamon tree, whose twigs are referred to as gui zhi. Gui zhi is a very well-known herb for early-stage colds, having strong anti-biotic qualities. It also stimulates blood circulation and can be used for arthritis, frostbite or moving blood into the uterus.

He shou wu (Polygonum multiflori) is fleece flower root and is a very famous tonic herb for symptoms such as weak/sore back, dizziness, blurred vision and graying hair. It developed the nickname "Mr. He's black hair" for its reputed ability to restore youthful vigor. It is the main ingredient in Shou Wu Chih, a medicinal beverage sold at American Acupuncture Center.

Longan fruit (Arillus longan) is known as long yan rou. These dried fruits are nicknamed "dragon's eye flesh" and are administered to the chronically ill and the elderly to boost vitality. They are famous for improving memory and were a staple for us in acupuncture school so we could memorize all these herbs!

The leaves of the loquat tree (eriobotrya) are known as pi pa ye and have anti-tussive properties. That means they help suppress cough with yellow sputum and improves lung function. This is a main ingredient in two of the cough syrups we carry at American Acupuncture Center.

Gingko (Gingko biloba) is recognizable by the shape of its leaves. The leaves and seeds both have medicinal properties and are called yin guo ye and bai guo, respectively. It is the leaves that are commonly bought over the counter to improve memory. The seeds have broncho-dilating effects and are used to arrest wheezing and dispel phlegm in asthma patients. Caution: These two are not interchangeable as they have different therapeutic effects and safety profiles.

The last here is ephedra, an herb that has gained notoriety of late. Ma huang is one of the most extensively studied Chinese herbs and has strong medicinal properties to stimulate the cardiovascular and central nervous system. It is very effective in short-term asthma treatment . A very close relative, Mormon Tea, can be found in the sandy washes of Anza-Borrego State Park.

This is simply to remind you that these natural products we take are, at one time, connected to the earth and the cycles of nature and don't just originate at a factory warehouse. The Chinese have the legend of emperor Shen Nong, the father of herbal medicine. He is reported to have walked the valleys and mountains of China with his dog tasting over 9,000 medicinal plants and substances. He must've had quite a palate! Enjoy in good health!

Thieves Stealing Herbs from National Forest

By Samira Jafari
Associated Press

DANIEL BOONE NATIONAL FOREST - The 20-foot tree stands half bare surrounded by the lush green of the forest. Stripped of its lifeline to nutrients and water, it only has months to live.

“It doesn’t know it’s dead,” says David Taylor, a U.S. Forest Service botanist for the Daniel Boone National Forest, pointing overhead to the healthy leaves that pose a stark contrast to the rest of the tree’s withering body.

This slippery elm has fallen victim to thieves who tore off its bark for profit in the ever-popular herbal remedy market.

The gummy lining of the tree’s bark has long been used in North America, and especially Appalachia, as a soothing agent for coughs, gastrointestinal ailments and skin irritations. However, experts say a growing interest in herbal products is exhausting many native plants like slippery elm - once used seasonally by locals, now in demand by millions.

“I think that trend is going to put pressure on limited resources such as the slippery elm,” said Dr. Michael Hirt, founding director for the Center for Integrative Medicine in Tarzana, Calif.

Added John Garrison, a National Park Service spokesman for the Blue Ridge Parkway: “There’s a huge market in botanicals going into herbal medicines. Virtually everything on public lands has a market.”

Dietary supplements, which include the subcategory of herbal supplements and remedies, are a $23 billion industry, according to the National Institutes of Health.Some 62 percent of Americans use some form of complementary or alternative medicine, which includes a variety of therapies, from acupuncture and meditation to herbal remedies and folk medicine. About 20 percent use some form of natural products.

The herbal industry credits natural remedies and supplements as a cheaper, and usually safer, alternative to pharmaceuticals - especially for mild ailments.
“A lot of people have become disillusioned with the safety of pharmaceuticals and the associated high cost,” said Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council.

Blumenthal and Hirt cited drugs such as Vioxx, an arthritis medication linked to dangerous side effects and pulled from the market in 2004, as examples of pharmaceuticals that have turned off many Americans to synthetic prescriptions.

In the past, forest and park officials have had to battle thieves snatching a variety of botanicals, most commonly American ginseng - thought to fight fatigue and stress-related ailments.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park officials recently teamed up with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to mark ginseng roots with a permanent dye and transponder strips to track illegally picked ginseng.

In the case of the slippery elm, officials at the U.S. Forest Service are relying on locals to alert them to illegal stripping.

Slippery elms are native to North America and can be found from Canada to Texas, generally growing around cool, wet areas, like creek beds. Authorities say the prime season for stealing is mid-June and early July, when the bark is mucilaginous and easy to peel.

Since the wood of the slippery elm has no commercial value, the stripped trees are left to die. About a dozen trees face that fate for each 50-pound of sack of bark, which fetches about $35 if the bark is wet, $150 if it’s dry.

“You’ve got some old mountain boys who know the trees, know the terrain,” said Officer Barry Bishop, with the federal Forest Service, about the half dozen suspects the Daniel Boone Forest has arrested this summer.

“If you find enough trees, it’s not going to take long to get a few pounds,” added Taylor. “It’s a quick buck.”

The demand for the bark has landed the tree on a protection list by the Ohio-based National Center for the Preservation of Medicinal Herbs, a nonprofit which researches safe ways to grow and replenish medicinal botanicals, such as ginseng, blood root and black cohosh.

While the Forest Service issues permits for the harvesting of some plants, such as ginseng, it does not permit any type of bark removal because it cripples trees. “It’s not a life-saving herb that’s worth destroying forests over,” Hirt said.
Armando Gonzalez-Stuart, a researcher at the University of Texas El Paso/Austin Cooperative Pharmacy Program, said the best option is for herbal industry to cultivate the trees responsibly on private property. If the bark is harvested in a sustainable manner, the trees are more likely to survive for future harvesting.

How Do You Take Chinese Herbs?

There are many ways Chinese herbs can be taken by a patient. They can be taken internally or applied externally. I'll address external herb applications in another post.

Internally, there are many ways to take Chinese herbs. The classical method is in the form of a decoction (tang). A decoction is a process of steeping and boiling raw herbs in a pot for 10-45 minutes. The liquid is poured into a separate container and more water is placed in the pot for another round of boiling and simmering. The remaining liquid is then added to the separate container and the raw herbs are discarded. The patient then drinks the liquid decoction which contains the active healing elements of the raw herbs.

A few details about preparing decoctions. Non-metallic pots are preferred, as in Corning ware, clay or porcelain. Also, although water is the most common liquid used, vinegar, wine and milk are also used. Some herbs must be given special treatment during the decoction process. Heavy, dense medicinals such as aconite or any of the shells must be decocted longer to extract the active elements. Aromatics such as mint and cardomon must be decocted briefly because they can lose effectiveness if the volatile oils in them are damaged. Grains or seeds need to be decocted in gauze. A decoction is the fastest- acting method to take Chinese herbs.

Pills (wan) are produced by combining the the fine powder of pulverized substances with a binding agent such as honey. Special pills (dan) are finely processed, expensive substances. Neither of these forms are used much today.

Medicinal wines (jiu) are prepared by steeping various medicinals in wine. Chinese rice wine is the traditional solvent. These wines are very effective for arthritis and traumatic injury. Powders(san) are convenient and easy ways to take herbs and can be dissolved in water as a tea.

The most popular way to take Chinese herbs today is through patent medicines. This is a process whereby the herbs are formulated into a capsule or tablet. Some resemble little black BBs. This is by far the most convenient method to enjoy Chinese herbs. They are effective and do not have the taste challenge or labor-intensive method of preparation of decoctions. At American Acupuncture Center, we used powdered capsules that are very popular with our patients.

Tinctures, extracts and solid extracts are all made by soaking herbs in a solvent, usually alcohol and/or glycerine. The herbs are are then pressed and the resulting liquid is taken. Tinctures are the cheapest, but also the weakest with an herb-to-solvent ratio of 1:5. Extracts are 1:1 and solid extracts are a very good 4:1. There are others, but these are the major methods to take Chinese herbs internally. If you have further questions, contact American Acupuncture Center.

Judge Strikes Down FDA Ban on Ephedra

A federal judge in Utah struck down at least part of a government ban on ephedra ( ma huang), pulled from the market a year ago because of safety concerns.
U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell sided with a Utah-based company that challenged the Food and Drug Administration's ban in April 2004 on the herbal supplement, which has been linked to 155 deaths and numerous adverse reactions, mainly due to misuse. The death in February 2003 of Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler was tied to his use of the supplement.

Campbell's ruling appears to allow Solaray, a subsidiary of Nutraceutical, to sell "a dietary supplement containing 10 (milligrams) or less of ephedrine alkaloids per daily dose." She sent the matter to the FDA "for further rulemaking consistent with the court's opinion."

Solaray, which had manufactured an ephedra supplement since 1988, sued last May. It said that the herb "has been safely consumed" for hundreds of years and that the FDA had not proved that doses under 10 milligrams are harmful.

The lawsuit also argued that the FDA's ruling applied the more stringent standards designed to regulate drugs, Nutraceutical President Bruce Hough said. Legally, supplements are considered a type of food and do not have to meet the same requirements that drug manufacturers face, he said.

FDA spokeswoman Kim Rawlings said the agency is "evaluating the decision."

A dietary supplement industry group that supported the FDA's original ban was quick to say the ruling was not a complete overturning of the ephedra ban. Many ephedra products had considerably more than 10 milligrams per dose.

The standard that companies can't market dietary supplements "that pose a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury" still stands, said Steven Mister, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition, a supplement industry trade association.

Ephedra had been widely used for weight loss and bodybuilding. Ma huang (Ephedra sinica) is a cone-bearing shrub, 30 to 50 cm in height, which is native to China but now found also in the Mediterranean region, India, Persia, and the western portion of South America. A relative known as Mormon's Tea, grows right here in San Diego County, mainly in the desert washes and hidden arroyos of Anza-Borrego. This species grows best in sandy or rocky deserts and mountains.

Hough said the company has no immediate plans to begin selling the supplement again. "This was not filed because of our desire to sell ephedra, but because FDA set a standard that would have long-term ramifications for many products sold within the nutritional supplement industry," he said.

American Acupuncture no longer sells products containing ma huang.

Are Chinese herbs safe?

This is a topic that has received a lot of press in the last five years. It has even led to the FDA banning the importation of several rather prominent Chinese herbs. Let me address the issue.

First, the reported incidents of people that claim to have incurred health problems while using Chinese herbs all have one similarity; severe misuse. The most well-known case was in Belgium several years ago where a weight-loss clinic was prescribing "cocktails" to patients that contained a nefarious combination of stimulants and Chinese herbs. Several of these people developed severe kidney problems, and some died. Mind you, the intent was quick weight loss by any means necessary. These "cocktails" were formulated by clinics that had no training or knowledge in the use of Chinese herbs and their practice of it was unethical and criminal.

Another high profile case involved a young pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles who collapsed on the field during spring training several years ago. He later died and it was found that he had a large amount of herbal ephedra (ma huang) in his system that contributed, with other supplements in his system, to a fatal heart problem. Ephedra has since been banned by the FDA, although there is a legal challenge to that underway.

Ma Huang is a very well-known and powerful medicinal in the Chinese herbal pantheon. It is effective for asthma, for example, but NEVER is meant to be used long-term. Also, it would never be prescribed to an athlete performing in hot weather as was the case with the pitcher. This is clearly contra-indicated. He self-prescribed in order to lose some fat and increase his performance. A fatal error, unfortunately. Personally, I have presrcibed Ma Huang ONE TIME in five years. It is simply not appropriate for most people, especially in a temperate climate such as San Diego's.

Chinese herbs are meant to be taken as formulas. That is, several herbs are combined in order to enhance each other's effect and reduce their harshness. they are RARELY prescribed singly. Most Chinese formulas are hundreds of years old and are designed to be effective and safe. This is a tried and true method. The unfortunate examples are of people self-prescribing or using herbal products with no knowledge of which herbs work together and which do not.

Please, do not self-prescribe with Chinese herbs. It is a very complicated study. We at American Acupuncture Center are trained and are required to take continuing education on this subject. This is why we are here for you. The herbs at Henry's, Jimbo's etc. are usually too weak to accomplish anything and Chinese herb stores are very confusing if you're not familiar with the products.

Chinese herbs are a wonderful modality of healing medicine and are very safe when prescribed by a knowledgable, licensed practitioner. Don't be scared off by media hysterics but don't rush to take something without having a professional consultation with a practitioner trained in the field.

Chinese herbs and acupuncture

Traditional Chinese medicine contains eight "branches" that make up the whole "tree" of medicine. Acupuncture is one of those branches. Herbal medicine is also one of the branches. In fact, herbal medicine is considered a more subtle, refined and higher level of medicine than acupuncture. Herbal masters are held in the highest esteem in China. The ancient emperor Shen Nong is the legendary father of Chinese herbal medicine and is reputed to have tasted more than 9,000 herbs!

Acupuncture and herbal medicine are often used in conjuction with each other. The effect on the patient is more powerful and lasting when they are used together. Herbs extend the effect of the acupuncture treatment between visits.

Chinese herbs are combined into formulas consisting of several different herbs. The idea of "polypharmacy" is that combinations of certain herbs strengthen the effect and ameliorate any side effects. Chinese herbs are very rarely prescribed singly.

The traditional method of ingesting Chinese herbs is by drinking a decoction. The raw herbs are steeped and slow boiled to release the active ingredients in a decoction or tea, which is then drunk by the patient. Most patients here in the U.S. find this method time-consuming and the resulting teas very distasteful. At American Acupuncture Center, we provide powdered capsules which the patient simply swallows like a vitamin pill. There is no taste factor. Our products are primarily supplied by Evergreen Herbs, a very fine company based in the Los Angeles area.

If you have any questions about Chinese herbs, please contact our office. Much more on this subject to come.