Gaps In Botanical Safety, Quality Data Need To Be Narrowed

A European conference concluded that more data on safety risks and ingredient quality of botanical supplements needs to be generated. In addition, governments need to make it easier to share botanical safety data. Dietary supplements derived from plants, algae, fungi or lichens are widely available globally, and an increasing number of people are collecting wild botanicals to use as food. But some botanicals and botanical preparations pose a threat to human health. Speakers at the conference said progress in this area is being made, but gaps in safety and quality data still exist.