With thanks to The Daily Mail Jenny Hope 17.2.2011:

Herbal and Chinese medicines that faced an EU ban are to stay on sale under plans to register UK practitioners for the first time. The Government moved yesterday to protect consumers wanting herbal products that will disappear from many health food shops after April 30.

Mr Lansley has approved a plan for the Health Professions Council to establish a register of practitioners supplying unlicensed herbal medicines, who will be required to sign up by law. Read the rest of this entry »

The Text of an Act of Parliament passed in the reign of Henry VIII to protect herbalists from persecution by the Company of Physicians and Chirurgeons. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to the MailOnline:

The Prince of Wales’ Duchy Originals firm is to launch a range of herbal remedies with a leading British homeopathic manufacturer.

The new line of herbal tinctures will be officially launched in the New Year and be available in Boots and Waitrose.

Charles watched the new products rolling off the assembly line today as he toured the factory and laboratories of Nelson’s Homeopathic Pharmacy, a natural healthcare company. The family run firm was founded in 1860 and since then has been supplying over the counter remedies to a growing market. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to Mercola.com and ABC News:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to soon decide the future of what some in the food industry are calling the holy grail of sweeteners, a low-calorie, natural substance derived from the South American stevia plant. The particular strain of stevia being considered for approval is called Rebaudioside A. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to the Independant 23.11.2007 and Zeus Information Service:

They range from the everyday to the decidedly obscure, from items with a specific, specialised use to those with a host of applications. Their common heritage is one of the world’s oldest cultures, and their details are being gathered together to guard against theft by the West. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to the Daily Mail 8.10.08:

It has long been a happy alternative for those reluctant to pop pills for depression. But the herbal extract St John’s Wort now has more than just cheerful converts to testify to its mood-lifting powers.

In what is billed as the most thorough study of the plant, scientists have found it is just as effective as Prozac at treating depression. It also had fewer side effects than many standard drugs used to help those battling despair. Read the rest of this entry »

With thanks to nutraingredients.com

France has taken a step to liberalise its highly restrictive herbal regulations by issuing two national decrees that should allow for greater access to botanical supplements. Read the rest of this entry »