Document Type
Oral Presentation
Location
Oxford Conference Center
Event Website
https://oxfordicsb.org/
Start Date
23-4-2026 2:00 PM
End Date
23-4-2026 2:00 PM
Description
Initiated in 2011, the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) was created as a partnership between the American Botanical Council, the 2American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi to educate the herbal dietary supplement industry, regulators, and scientists in academia about adulteration of botanical ingredients. The ultimate goal of the Program was to improve the authenticity and quality of herbal dietary supplements to the consumer. Since its inception, the Program has published 100 peer-reviewed documents. Despite herbal ingredient suppliers’ and dietary supplement manufacturers’ implementation of changes in quality control specifications, processes, and the supply chain based on BAPP publications, adulteration of botanical ingredients has persisted. The most common ways to adulterate botanical ingredients are still the substitution of the claimed extract with extracts from lower cost plant species containing the same chemical markers and the undeclared addition of bulking agents. However, spiking of ingredients with markers made by chemical synthesis appears to be on the rise. Examples include e.g., curcumin sold as turmeric (Curcuma longa) root and rhizome extract, S-allyl-L-cysteine sold as garlic (Allium sativum) bulb extract, or undeclared extraneous vitamin C added to acerola (Malpighia glabra) fruit extract. Another type of adulteration, the addition of chemical constituents unrelated to the labeled plant species, has been reported over the past years. Examples are the sale of citric acid labeled as boswellia (Boswellia serrata) resin extract, and the spiking of andrographis (Andrographis paniculata) herb with quercetin. While many industry members have implemented robust quality control systems to root out adulteration, published data shows that some manufacturers lack even the most basic quality control tests. However, a few case studies from Asian countries also show that a combination of education, testing, and strict regulatory enforcement can successfully reduce the number of adulterated ingredients available on the market. The presentation will provide a review on the accomplishments of BAPP over the past 15 years and the authenticity challenges that remain to be solved.
Recommended Citation
Gafner, Stefan; Upton, Roy; Blumenthal, Mark; and Khan, Ikhlas, "Fifteen Years of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program: What Have We Learned?" (2026). Oxford ICSB. 29.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2026_ICSB/Schedule/29
Publication Date
April 2026
Accessibility Status
Searchable text
Included in
Fifteen Years of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program: What Have We Learned?
Oxford Conference Center
Initiated in 2011, the Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) was created as a partnership between the American Botanical Council, the 2American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi to educate the herbal dietary supplement industry, regulators, and scientists in academia about adulteration of botanical ingredients. The ultimate goal of the Program was to improve the authenticity and quality of herbal dietary supplements to the consumer. Since its inception, the Program has published 100 peer-reviewed documents. Despite herbal ingredient suppliers’ and dietary supplement manufacturers’ implementation of changes in quality control specifications, processes, and the supply chain based on BAPP publications, adulteration of botanical ingredients has persisted. The most common ways to adulterate botanical ingredients are still the substitution of the claimed extract with extracts from lower cost plant species containing the same chemical markers and the undeclared addition of bulking agents. However, spiking of ingredients with markers made by chemical synthesis appears to be on the rise. Examples include e.g., curcumin sold as turmeric (Curcuma longa) root and rhizome extract, S-allyl-L-cysteine sold as garlic (Allium sativum) bulb extract, or undeclared extraneous vitamin C added to acerola (Malpighia glabra) fruit extract. Another type of adulteration, the addition of chemical constituents unrelated to the labeled plant species, has been reported over the past years. Examples are the sale of citric acid labeled as boswellia (Boswellia serrata) resin extract, and the spiking of andrographis (Andrographis paniculata) herb with quercetin. While many industry members have implemented robust quality control systems to root out adulteration, published data shows that some manufacturers lack even the most basic quality control tests. However, a few case studies from Asian countries also show that a combination of education, testing, and strict regulatory enforcement can successfully reduce the number of adulterated ingredients available on the market. The presentation will provide a review on the accomplishments of BAPP over the past 15 years and the authenticity challenges that remain to be solved.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/icsb/2026_ICSB/Schedule/29
Comments
Stefan Gafner, PhD, is currently Chief Science Officer of the American Botanical Council, an independent, nonprofit research and education organization. He is also Director of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program, a large-scale collaborative program initiated by the American Botanical Council (ABC), the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the National Center for Natural Product Research (NCNPR) at the University of Mississippi to educate members of the herbal and dietary supplement industry about ingredient and product adulteration. Prior to working for ABC, Gafner served as a Director of Analytical Chemistry in the R&D department of natural personal care products company Tom’s of Maine. Gafner received his degree in pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, University of Berne, in Berne, Switzerland. He obtained a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, with a focus on the chemistry of medicinal plants, from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, and conducted postdoctoral research on cancer chemopreventive natural products at the University of Illinois – Chicago in the College of Pharmacy’s Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy. Gafner is author or co-author of over 85 peer-reviewed scientific publications and holds 5 patents. He is a member of the advisory board of the Society for Medicinal Plant and Natural Product Research (GA) and of the editorial boards of the Journal of Ethnopharmacology and Planta Medica.