Korean Ginseng - We know our roots

Korean Ginseng - We know our roots...

Korean Ginseng is a herb that has huge world wide sales, and in common with other herbs, much of it is grown on small farms in developing countries. This makes the supply chain difficult to regulate, and raises the risk of substandard roots entering the chain. A known problem with ginseng is contamination by heavy metals, such as lead, and by pesticides, as well as by toxic compounds called PAH’s. These are formed if the ginseng is heated too much during the drying process. And if it’s not dried enough then it can start to go bad, and in some countries the answer to this is to irradiate the ginseng to help preserve it.

Because of these problems we put all of our herbs through rigorous tests to ensure there is no contamination, and that no irradiation has occurred. Happily we don’t discover many problems because our suppliers are reputable, and their supply chain can often be traced right back to the individual farms.

The level of safety adds cost, because in the case of ginseng we buy an extract that is up to 3-times dearer than many grades available. But we take the safety of our customers very seriously, and after 30 years in the industry we’re hardly likely to risk our reputation by cutting corners.