Mark Blumenthal, executive director and founder of the American Botanical Council founded the program—until this year called simply the Botanical Adulterants Program—in conjunction with the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia and the National Center for Natural Products Research at the University of Mississippi. Blumenthal said the new name is part of a reexamination process his whole organization is going through.
“We’ve been doing this program for more than six years. Over the past year or so we have been looking at ways to enhance the BAPP program, to make it more meaningful, to increase its impact,” Blumenthal told NutraIngredients-USA.
Part of broader reexamination
“As part of our 30th anniversary process at ABC we are going through a period of introversion and reflection. Everything is on the table for reexamination. We are looking at the things we do and asking, ‘Is there a telling social need for this?’ Even if we don’t make a change in a certain program or effort, the result would be a rededication to those goals,” he said.
In the case of BAPP, Blumenthal said the program’s board suggested a slight correction in the program’s focus. Blumenthal said when the name change was first floated it met with almost unanimous approval.
“The addition of the word ‘prevention’ to the name speaks directly to the heart of the program,” said Roy Upton, founder of AHP.
More than 130 American and international companies and organizations underwrite the program, which is an international consortium of nonprofit organizations, analytical laboratories, industry members, professional scientists, and others. BAPP advises industry stakeholders, researchers, health professionals, and the public about the various challenges related to adulterated herbs and botanical ingredients sold in international commerce.
To date, BAPP has published 37 extensively peer-reviewed articles, Botanical Adulterants Bulletins, Laboratory Guidance Documents, and Botanical Adulterants Monitor e-newsletters. All of the program’s publications are freely available by registering on the program’s website.