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Product Review: Ginseng Supplements |
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HOW PRODUCTS WERE EVALUATED:
How Products were Selected:
Products were selected to represent those commonly available in the U.S. and Canada. ConsumerLab.com purchased products on the open market through retail stores, on-line retailers, and direct sales or multi-level marketing companies. Products were not accepted directly from manufacturers. For each product, the sample was composed of one or more purchased samples from a lot having an expiration date (if labeled) later than the date of testing.
Testing Method:
Ginseng products were tested for their amount of total ginsenosides and potential contamination with specific heavy metals and pesticides. Analysis for ginsenosides was made by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) using the Ginseng Evaluation Program (GEP) methods established by the American Botanical Council (ABC). This analysis specifically tests for the presence and amount of the seven major types of ginsenosides. Based on the scientific literature, the weight of these seven ginsenosides is assumed to represent approximately 90% of the total ginsenosides in a product and is, therefore, used to calculate the total ginsenoside weight in products.
Analyses for the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium and lead were made using Inductively Coupled Plasma/Mass Spectroscopy (ICP/MS).
Analysis for the pesticides quintozene (pentachloronitrobenzene), lindane (hexachlorocyclohexane), hexachlorobenzene and related compounds (pentachloroaniline, pentachlorothioanisol, alpha-benzenehexachloride, beta-benzenehexachloride, delta-benzenehexachloride, and tetrachloroanaline) was performed using a modified method by High Resolution Gas Chromatography (HRGC) with an electron capture detector (ECD) and High Resolution Gas Chromatography (HRGC) with mass spectroscopy/mass spectroscopy (MS/MS) detection described in the U.S. FDA Pesticide Analytical Manual (PAM) and a modification of the PAM method (presented at the Sept. 1999 AOAC, Houston, TX entitled "Trace Contaminants in Dietary Supplements: Pesticide Analysis in Ginseng").
Analysis for caffeine, theobromine and theophylline was done by HPLC.
Disintegration of non-chewable, non-capsule, non-enteric coated and non-time-release formulations was analyzed utilizing USP (United States Pharmacopeia) <2040> recommendations entitled "Disintegration and Dissolution of Nutritional Supplements."
Any product that did not pass the testing was sent to another independent laboratory to repeat testing for at least one of the criteria on which it did not pass. The identities of the products were not disclosed to the laboratories performing the testing.
Passing Score: *
To achieve a "Pass" in the testing, a product had to:
- Meet its label claims for ginsenoside content and, at a minimum, contain the following total ginsenosides, respective of the type of ginseng labeled: 1.5% for Asian root powder (German Commission E recommendation), 3.0% for Asian root extract (USP recommendations), 2.0% for American root powder, and 4.0% for American root extract (common industry standard).
- Heavy Metal Contamination:
- Must not exceed California Prop 65 levels for lead contamination in a recommended daily serving and, in no event, exceed 2 mcg of lead in a recommended daily serving. (The State of California has established its own strict standards for lead, including 0.5 micrograms of lead per serving per day for foods and most supplements — although this is raised to 1.5 micrograms per daily serving for calcium supplements. Products sold in California that exceed these levels are required to bear warning labels).
- Contain less than 0.3 parts per million (or micrograms per gram of dried root) of cadmium (World Health Organization proposed guidelines).
- Contain less than 10 micrograms of arsenic per daily serving (State of California).
- Pesticide Contamination: Contain less than 0.1 part per million of hexachlorobenzene, 1 part per million of quintozene (total of pentachloronitrobenzene (PCNB), pentachloroaniline and pentachlorothioanisol), and less than 0.6 part per million of lindane (United States Pharmacopeia/European Pharmacopeia).
- Caffeine levels in the product must not exceed those expected from declared ingredients.
- Meet recommended USP parameters for disintegration for vitamin supplements (excluding capsule, enteric coated, chewable and time-release products).
- Meet all FDA labeling requirements.
* Passing scores allow for specific margins of technical error associated with each analysis. ConsumerLab.com reserves the right to disqualify a product at any time from passing its testing if it considers such product to present a safety risk or to provide misleading or inaccurate information in its labeling.
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