Why every lot is screened for aristolochic acid

Aristolochic acid is not an ingredient we use and not something we would use. It appears in this conversation for one reason: the Aristolochia plants that contain it grow in the same provinces as some of the botanicals we do handle, and at the field edge the two can be confused during a careless harvest.

It is regulated accordingly. Aristolochia is banned as a medicinal material in the EU and restricted in the United States, and several importing markets require a negative test result before a consignment of a related botanical is released. This is not a formality to be worked around; it is a documented hazard, and a batch that carries it should not travel.

So the test comes first, before the material is graded and before it is priced. Each lot is sampled and sent to an accredited third-party laboratory, which screens by LC-MS/MS against a detection limit well below the levels the importing markets act on. A result at or above the limit fails the lot outright — the material goes no further, and it is not blended down into anything.

We keep the certificate of analysis for every lot that passes, and we send a copy with the consignment. If you are importing into a market that requires the result in a particular form, tell us at the quotation stage and we will send the document with the batch.

We describe what the material is and what the laboratory found. We make no health claim of any kind.