Tests

The arrival of new consignments of raw herbs at Herbs in a Bottle is a routine event, and yet every delivery is significant.

Although suppliers are selected with great care, it is impossible to take anything for granted.  On arrival the delivery receives a visual inspection to check the integrity of the external packaging, the consistency and identity of the raw herbs and excipients, and the quality and integrity of glass and plastic packaging in contact with the product.  Documents are completed and if the herbs are organic additional steps must be taken.

Sampling is a key stage of the booking-in process.  Chemistry and physical examination takes place at Essendine.  Micro testing takes place at an independent laboratory and checks include Yeast & Mould, Stepholococcus aureus, Enterobacteriacea, E. coli, Salmonella and Total Viable Count.

Until the test results are obtained the herbs are held in our Quarantine area and stay there until all quality control tests are completed and compliance with specifications has been confirmed.

A smooth flow of raw materials into our Essendine facility

The Herbs in a Bottle warehouse contains over three hundred and fifty herbs in their raw state, imported from all over the world.  Described by visitors as an Aladdin's cave of herbal treasures (some of them very rare and valuable) managing this cornucopia is a demanding challenge that requires a skilled team of warehouse professionals.  Their task is to ensure a smooth flow of raw materials into our Essendine facility.

Deliveries to the Essendine site are strictly managed so that we do not having arrivals appearing unexpectedly and unauthorised people wandering about the site.  We require suppliers to use approved hauliers and our staff will refuse to unload herbs from any vehicle that appears to have been contaminated by a previous load.  Any damaged packages are immediately rejected.

Complete traceability is an essential component of herbal medicine production, therefore all raw herbs arriving at Essendine must be accompanied by valid documents - haulier documents, supplier delivery notes, Certificates of Analysis.  Pallets must be clean and of sound structure so that the consignment of herbs can be securely stacked and strapped.

Any packaging (boxes, bags etc) containing the raw herbs must be of food grade standard and checked to comply with EU Directive 2004/14/EC (which covers migration of contaminants).  Poly-weave sacks have to be non-permeable, cardboard boxes must have poly-liners etc.  Hessian sacks are banned, and the only paper packaging allowed are sturdy multi-ply sacks with a maximum weight of 25kg.

Labelling is of crucial importance.  Mandatory requirements are supplier name and emergency contact details, product name, product identity code, batch number, date of processing, and weight in kg.  Organic herbs must have certification logo and certification number on the label.

Customers are encouraged to visit Essendine to see our warehousing procedures in action.

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Quality checking procedures in the packing room

During the visit by Lincoln College students the HAIB QA Supervisor Lynn Windsor explains the quality checking procedures in the packing room.

Visit by students from Lincoln College

Herbs in a Bottle welcomed students from Lincoln College earlier today who toured our Essendine facilities and attended a presentation on the production of herbal medicines.

Medical herbalist and NIMH member Katie Dobiesz led the tour, and said:  "The students were impressed by every stage of the production process and were surprised at the vast array of tinctures and fluid extracts that we produce".

Above:  The Quality Control lab was a particular interest, and here we see one of the students examining the HPTLC equipment.

Above:  Lab Technician Rosie about to demonstrate HPTLC process.

Above:  one of the students with the HPTLC identification of Scutellaria lateriflora.

Powdered herbs

Producing powdered herbs of the consistent quality required by medical herbalist practitioners involves four staff following a sixteen-stage procedure.

Planning is key, as well as careful pre-checking and recording of the raw herbs (already tested by our QC department). 

Throughout the production process hygiene checks are mandatory and the milling machine needs to be absolutely clean to prevent cross-contamination - this means cleaning the hopper, the sieve, the chute, and the extraction chamber, as well as ensuring the floor is perfectly clean and there is no powder on any surfaces.  Scoops and tools also need to be cleaned and in pristine condition.  Cleaning must be carried out by personnel specifically trained to understand the milling machine and how it works as well as understanding the implications of not cleaning properly.  At the end of the preparatory clean the room must be inspected and (if all complies) signed off.

The milling machine is a "disintegrator" consisting of a feed hopper into a hammer action and a grinding action, the material then passing through a sieve plate (the sieve plates can be varied in size).

To ensure uniformity the raw herbs are fed through the mill in a steady way.  Bags are filled and repalced in timely manner (taking samples from each bag for QC checks).  Each bag is identified by product name, code and batch number before being weighed and sealed. 

At the end of milling the entire cleaning procedure must be repeated.

At every stage inspections take place to ensure that GMP requirements are being followed. 

A quality-driven organisation

Herbs in a Bottle is a quality-driven organisation, and this is especially reflected in the way we seek out high-quality raw materials and continuously enhance our production techniques and specifications.

We recognise that quality is a total concept. Among the many aspects we consider when looking at our overall quality commitment are:

• Cleanliness and hygiene
• Selection of raw materials
• Organic vs. non organic issues
• Fresh vs. dried issues
• Extraction techniques
• Active components
• Energetics and feel
• Packaging

All of the above, combined with the philosophy and integrity of the company, go to make up our Quality Policy.

The Environment

We aim to be an environmentally responsible company. Herbs in a Bottle recognises that the plants we use are a valuable natural resource and that some of our plants are under severe environmental pressure due to indiscriminate gathering and over-harvesting. Herbs in a Bottle is a strong supporter of organic cultivation and the investigation of cultivation techniques for herbs which are difficult to grow.

When one percolates a tincture or fluid extract, the solvent is in continuous motion against the plant material, maintaining a concentration gradient throughout the process. This allows for the greater extraction of those vital plant ingredients, and leads to less waste of our valuable herbal resources.

Essential oils

We offer our customers a range of sixty-four Essential Oils.

The majority of Herbs in a Bottle Oils are concentrated hydrophobic liquids steam distilled from raw plant material (flowers, leaves, wood, bark, roots, seeds or peel). A very small number are produced using other extraction methods.

In almost all cases the oils are distilled in a single process.  Essential Oils can vary according to a number of
factors including botanical origin, geographical origin, specific characteristics and individual chemotypes. Our aim is to supply you with a standardised product that conforms to therapeutic standards.

In the absence of any legally enforceable “therapeutic standard” for Essential Oils the following criteria have been observed:

• Gas spectrometry reports for each oil are reviewed.
• All oils are first distillation unless (in exceptional cases) the raw plant material dictates otherwise - for instance ylang ylang.
• All oils list Latin botanical names as well as the common name.
• All oils are packaged in dark opaque bottles to neutralise susceptibility to heat, light, and air.
• Other information such as extraction methods, specific gravity, and optical rotation is available on request.

Recent advances in chemistry have flooded the market with synthetic essential oils which have little therapeutic value. Our Essential Oils are guaranteed to be pure extracts with no added synthetic materials. None of the chemical constituents have been removed. The oil is never “stretched” by adding oil from cheaper plants. You may call for the gas chromatographs of any batch which will show the various organic components which make up each specific oil. All batches have complete traceability.

Remember, generally Essential Oils should not be applied directly to the skin because of their undiluted form. A range of Carrier Oils is available for blending with Essential Oils. A number of Essential Oils can cause severe irritation or allergic reaction, and practitioners should consult the appropriate references on material safety.

Special terms for newly-qualified practitioners

All graduates from training programmes recognized by the European Herbal Practitioners Association may participate in our start-up programme.

Simply place your order with us (minimum £500) and pay for the whole order less a 25% discount, plus two further discounts for £25 each redeemable against your second and third orders (minimum order for each these two subsequent discounts is £100).

Remember that if your order is over £200 carriage is free.

Redeemable against any of our products. These special terms are for telephone orders only and are not available via our website. Only one start-up per graduate.

The Way Ahead

As herbal medicine manufacturers we have decided that the only way we are going to survive in a demanding world is to put our company on the firmest foundations possible. A tremendous pace of investment and expansion at our Essendine facility has commenced with the aim of securing herbal medicine production far into the future. Our Technical department is rightly acclaimed in the industry as a highly professional department able to respond to the most stringent demands of medicines legislation. To further strengthen this department we have appointed Steve Williams as Technical Director. Steve has thirty years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry and will enable us to put herbal medicine production on a level of excellence equal to that of conventional medicines.

Diversification has taken place within Herbs in a Bottle and we now carry out very substantial New Product Development (NPD) and contract manufacture – all within the CAM sector. This has revolutionised the options for practitioners wanting to develop their own ranges of medicines.

Come and see for yourself

Blending Suite, Wet Rooms, Capsule Rooms, Technical and NPD facilities, specialist warehousing, bespoke storage areas and many more features make our Essendine factory one of the biggest and newest herbal medicine manufacturing facilities in the world, fully compliant with GMP. Come and see our production areas for yourself – we welcome visits by groups of practitioners and welcome your feedback on how we are doing.