SPRING, Texas — The Global Curcumin Association (GCA), the non-profit trade association stewarding the global curcumin/turmeric market, applauds the publication of ‘Analytical strategies to determine the labelling accuracy and economically-motivated adulteration of “natural” dietary supplements in the marketplace: turmeric case study’ in the peer-reviewed journal Food Chemistry.
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) has been used for thousands of years as a spice, colorant, and for its health benefits. According to the American Botanical Council’s 2020 Herb Market Report, turmeric is the second top-selling herbal supplement across all market channels in the United States. Commercially available products are frequently of high quality, but recent analysis by GCA and others has shown that several products in the market do not meet label claim and others, labeled as ‘natural’ turmeric extracts, contain synthetic constituents. These findings illustrate the need for improved quality control and enhanced analytical methods.
“Our recent GCA testing, confirmed by others, has determined that some products on the market are adulterated or lack adequate levels of active ingredients. Turmeric is an ingredient with ample scientific evidence for health benefits, but if we lose consumer faith and trust, it will impact all companies in this market – bad actors as well as fully compliant organizations. For this reason, we are emphatic that better tools are needed for both brands and contract manufacturers, and while our initial findings changed sourcing practices and supply chain partners, more change and quality control is needed,” said GCA Executive Director Len Monheit.
This paper, co-authored with analytical experts Beta Analytic and Eurofins, two leading independent testing laboratories, reports on GCA’s previous turmeric product testing and proposes an overall approach in testing strategy. The findings indicate that an orthogonal turmeric quality control approach is preferred, one that uses carbon-14 measurements (a means to distinguish natural from synthetic curcumin) and curcuminoid content determination by high-performance liquid chromatography with detection in the visible range (HPLC-Vis) together, this being essential for helping improve and verify the quality of products in this category.
“This work has been in process for many months and was written with input from the American Botanical Council (ABC) and the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP), both of which GCA actively supports,” adds Monheit. “Our goal is to steward growth and strengthen the category by communicating quality control strategies.”
The complete study can be accessed in Food Chemistry.
About the Global Curcumin Association
GCA was founded in 2017 as part of Trust Transparency’s incubator and stewardship program of single ingredient trade associations. GCA works to establish a best practice recognized third-party baseline for ingredient quality, identity and appropriate category definitions and standards. The association also serves as a voice and supporter of science and education through all supply chain levels and customer, consumer
and influencer communities. Learn more at CurcuminAssociation.org.
SOURCE Global Curcumin Association
