Controlling the quality of herbal medicines

In the UK, all medicines are licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to ensure they are safe and effective. Since May 2014, all manufactured herbal medicines must also be registered by the MHRA, a measure brought in to address the problem of adulteration and of herbal medicines containing the wrong herb.

An important part of this process is ensuring all medicines – herbal and conventional – are manufactured to a high quality. A collection of quality standards called the British Pharmacopoeia (BP) is central to this quality assurance process.

Matthew Almond and Samantha Atkinson explore various methods the BP use to ensure that herbal medicines meet standards, and briefly detail the history of the 150 year old organisation.