An interesting segment on NPR this week (http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/03/28/artificial-dyes-candy) pointed out the hypocrisy of American companies, who make their products with artificial colors in the US and natural colouring agents in Europe. Six years ago the British government released its studies of artificial colourings, proving that they have a clear and significant negative impact on children’s behavior and encouraging manufacturers to switch to plant dyes. Since EU legislation now requires warning labels pointing out the impact they have virtually disappeared even from brightly coloured candy, replaced by plant extracts. Most people are surprised to find out that it’s not just ju
I get lots of questions about whether the herbs I use are certified organic. Following is the quick answer I send to those questions: Some of my herbs are organic, some are not, for a variety of reasons. Organic certification can be applied only to commercially farmed herbs, which very often do not have the same medicinal properties as those which are wild-crafted. Organic certification standards vary from country to country and even from state to state. Certification is expensive, so many small growers whose standards and practices would qualify do not apply. As far as processed herbs (extracts, salves, etc) go, the quality of water, which cannot be “organic”, affects the quality of the fin
