Tests for nutraceutical products

The use of herbal preparations in the United States is growing. According to a report prepared by the Beverage Marketing Corp. of New York, approximately 60 million Americans now regularly consume herbal preparations. Nearly 11 million took ginkgo biloba extract, 7.5 million took St. John’s wort and 7.3 million took echinacea in 1997. According to Food Technology’s own Liz Sloan, in a Top Ten Trends article in the August 1999 issue, vitamin and herbal sales topped $12 billion in the past year.

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