Herbal Lines Launched by Major Manufacturers

It was inevitable. With the sudden swing to Herbal Procucts by a growing segment of the American population seeking alternative treatments for common ailments, the message became unmistakably clear. With herbals on the market to treat ailments from the common cold to prostate problems, from sexual dysfunction to chronic diarrhea, Manufacturers were faced with a simple choice. Test, check, and offer for sale the products demanded by the populace or lose their business to foreigh concerns.

The new wave has been spearheaded by Warner-Lambert, the Pharmaceutical giant, who recently introduced their Quanterra line of standardized herbal products. The tag line in their advertising reads "clinically proven by doctors to be safe and effective." Displaying some caution, the company has introduced only two Quanterra products thus far, those being Quanterra Mental Sharpness (containing Ginko Biloba), and Quanterra Prostate (with Saw Palmetto). In an effort to educate the public concerning the value ot their products, Warner - Lambert is making complete information available on their web site.

Manufacturers are not allowed to make definitive statements about their products according to the 1994 Dietary Suppliment Health and Education Act. They can, however, make generic, non-specific statements such as (in the case of echinacia) promotes healthy immune system functions. One proviso of the act does allow for the manufacturers to spread information disclosing the herbal's proven clinical benefits. As an example, Warner-Lambert is perfectly free to provide a copy of JAMA's (the journal of the American Medical Association) study that suggests ginko biloba is effective in treating some forms of Alzheimer's disease. Product brand names are not allowed to be mentioned, however.

American Home Products last month released its own line of herbal suppliments, named after its own very successful vitamin brand, Centrum. The line contains products of Echinacia, Ginko Biloba, Saw-Palmetto, St. John's Wort, and Ginsing. Much as the Quanterra line does, the Centrum line pounds the point that the products do show "some clinical effectiveness" against certain symptoms.

American Home Products will heavily promote its Centrum herbal products by expounding on its unique PharmaPrint process of manufacturing. PharmaPrint, they say, is a process that goes beyond standardization to guarantee consistant levels of the active ingredients. Hype? Perhaps, since the method of manufacture hasn't been proven to give any better results than other manufacturing methods, although the consistancy of the dosage is greatly improved.

The Bayer company has launched its own version of herbals, these in combinations to treat "all" the symptomology. That is the unique difference among the three major manufacturers. Bayer's line, "One-a-Day" has the distinction of being blends of several dietary suppliments formulated to attack all the miseries associated with common ailments. The line will feature products such as "Cold Season," Tension and Mood," Memory and Concentration," and "Prostate Health."

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