Certified Organic Herbs At Banyan Botanicals we are focused on providing our customers with the highest quality Ayurvedic herbs possible. We begin with a firm commitment to certified organic growing and environmentally sustainable harvesting practices. Nearly all of our bulk herbs are USDA certified organically grown. The remaining few are organically grown without pesticides and are in the transitional period to becoming certified. Banyan is the industry leader in certified organic Ayurvedic herbs, offering the largest selection available.

Superior Quality Control

We have an extensive system for maintaining the highest possible standards for quality control of our herbs. Your health and well-being is our highest priority, and everything we do is managed with that in mind. We employ leading experts in the field of Ayurveda, and we have partnered with reputable laboratories in the U.S. and U.K. to ensure the purity and safety of our herbs.

Testing for botanicals is generally classified into the following four categories: Microbiologicals, Heavy Metals, Pesticides, and Identification.

Microbiologicals

Banyan requires microbiological testing and certificates of analysis from all of our suppliers for every batch of herbs. Testing is done in either the U.S. or in the U.K., in government regulated labs. The herbs are tested for the following:

Total Aerobic Microbial Count
Total combined yeast and molds
Coliforms
E. Coli
Salmonella

Test methods used are those specified by the European Pharmacopoeia, which are in conformity with the tests specified by the AHPA (American Herbal Products Association) and ANSI Standard 173. We adhere to the microbiological standards provided by the AHPA. They are as follows:

Total aerobic microbial count 10^7
Total combined yeast and molds 10^5
Coliform 10^4
E. Coli absent in 1 gm
Salmonella absent in 10 gm

Cerftificates of Analysis (CofA) with test results are available on request for all of our herbs.

Heavy Metals

We test our herbs and products for arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury using independent U.S. laboratories. All of our products are within the safety guidelines stipulated by the American National Standards Institute/National Sanitation Foundation International Dietary Supplement Standard 173 (ANSI 173). The acceptable limits for daily intake are as follows:

Arsenic content shall not exceed 0.01 milligrams per daily dose (10 micrograms per day)
Cadmium content shall not exceed 0.006 mg/d (6 micrograms per day)
Lead content shall not exceed 0.02 mg/d (20 micrograms per day)
Mercury content shall not exceed 0.02 mg/d (20 micrograms per day)

Pesticides

Banyan's focus is on being a supplier of certified organic herbs. For an herb to be certified organic the farm must be certified to be free from the use of pesticides, sewage sludge, GMO's and ionizing radiation. We do spot testing for pesticides in third party labs to ensure the integrity of the organic certification of our partner farms.

Some companies market their herbs as “organic”, but unless they are USDA certified by an accredited certifying agency of the National Organics Program (NOP) they have not been legally validated as organic. The NOP is the gold standard in the United States for certified organic materials. All of our organic herbs and products are USDA certified organic

Look for certification and the USDA seal on products labeled "organic." It's your assurance that the product has been grown and handled without harmful chemicals and pesticides, in accordance with the USDA’s strict organic standards.

Identification

Banyan uses the industry accepted practice of organoleptic testing for the proper identification of our botanicals. This involves the physical examination of the herbs using the senses of sight, taste, smell and touch. Our staff includes recognized experts in the field of Ayurvedic herb identification. In addition, qualified botanists in both India and Sri Lanka conduct botanical verification of every species grown and also identify the species at the collection point. We use visual identification, microscopic identification (involving checking plant cell structures against pharmacopoeia standards) as well as Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) and High Performance Layer Chromatography (HPLC) to verify that what we are collecting is actually the correct species. Only on passing these tests do the plants proceed for further cleaning and drying.

Once dry, the herbs are subjected to tests in accordance with the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. This reveals that the levels of solids, ash content and active ingredients present in the plants actually conform to the recommended reference ranges.

Commitment to Excellence

All of our procedures here at Banyan are fully compliant with the industry standards and in accordance with the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA). The FDA issued the long awaited cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practice) for the dietary supplement industry in June of 2007. Under the law Banyan Botanicals has 2 years to come into compliance with the new rule. We had anticipated many of the new regulations and are confident that we will continue to meet all FDA requirements.

We are continually making improvements to our facility, systems and procedures. Every change we make is structured and characterized to be fully compliant with the USDA's National Organic Program, ANSI Standard 173, AHPA standards and the new cGMP for Dietary Supplements. We firmly believe that we are well ahead of the industry standards in all of these areas, and we intend to stay ahead.