There is a lot of concern about the safety of Chinese herbs due to some bad press by the media.  If sourced correctly, herbs are very safe.  As with anything, if you get it from a questionable dealer the quality will be questionable.  We get our herbs from Taiwan.  We have several suppliers that operate ISO 9001:2000 inspected facilities and are GMP plants.  Part of the concern with Chinese herbs is species identification.  These plants have a four part system of species identification:  appearance, microscopic identification, chemical identification including color chromatography and spectrometric analysis, and chemical fingerprinting, which identically matches a batch of herbs to a laboratory standard.  In addition to correct identification these plants test for pesticide residue, heavy metal, sulfur dioxide residue, and aflatoxin.  All herbs are certified to be free of these compounds.  If you want company specific information you may want to visit the companys’ websites or you can come in to view the materials we have on their facilities and procedures.  When available we try to acquire wildcrafted, organic, or sustainably harvested herbs.
Brands we purchase:
Kasier Pharmaceutical (KPC)– We purchase their brand of herbal granules for our pharmacy.  We are able to encapsulate these herbs as well.  These herbs are pharmaceutical and practitioner grade.
Herbal Times from Nuherbs Company – We purchase their brand of tea pills, the small round black pills that are compacted herbal balls.  These are pharmaceutical and practitioner grade.
Golden Flower Chinese Herbs – We carry select varieties of their formulaic herbs in capsules.  These are pharmaceutical and practitioner grade.
Spring Wind and Dr. Kang’s Herbs – Our raw herbs are sourced from these two suppliers, depending on which herbs are available when.  Spring Wind carries many organics and wildcrafts.  Both companies sell most of their herbs only to practitioners.
Dragon Herbs – These are retail grade herbs from Ron Teeguarden, a master herbalist.
Asian patents – We have a small selection of Asian patent formulas which are cold and flu remedies and topical applications.