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.
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.
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