A number of popular Chinese herbs have been found to be laden with pesticides. Greenpeace are calling on the Chinese government to act and prevent this contamination, which not only ruins the actual herbs but also affects the safety profile of Chinese herbal medicine internationally.
No doubt the skeptics will have a field day.
Full article here:
http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/food-agriculture/Chinese-Herbs-Elixir-of-Health/?gpi-blog
It goes without saying however that the use of pesticides carries enormous risk and, lest we forget, the produce in our very own supermarkets can also contain considerable residues. For more information:
http://www.pan-uk.org/archive/Projects/Food/
I have always promoted and continue to promote sustainable, local organic farming.
Other issues with imported herbs include adulteration and contamination but a new technique called DNA barcoding offers a solution. See here: http://137.189.42.34/mherbsdb/
Herbal medicines should be wild-crafted sustainably or grown in situations closely resembling their wild counterparts with minimal environmental impact. And it should go without saying, that along with all our food, they should be grown organically!!!
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