HERBALS THE FIRST OF ITS KIND
by Dawn Thorpe Jarvis , Senior Director of Nutrition Science & Educational Content
With mykind Organics Herbals , Garden of Life ® adopted the exact same philosophy and principals that we uphold for mykind Organics vitamins . It all begins with sourcing the highest quality organic plant materials . Selection of herbal farmers and suppliers is probably one of the most challenging parts of the entire process to ensure premium quality organic herbs .
In the United States , only 0.67 % of our land is dedicated to organic agricultural with a very small fraction of this being used for organic herbs , most of which are culinary herbs . mykind Organics herbs are , therefore , sourced globally . We identified regions in the world where traditional sources of highly-prized medicinal herbs have been growing for generations .
Knowing the farms and our farmers is critical for us in order to produce Certified USDA Organic and Non-GMO Verified herbs . These partnerships are built over many years , and the farms undergo regular , rigorous testing to achieve and maintain these third party certifications .
In Europe , most of our farmers are third and fourth generation , they also know the history of the soil , the local climate , and they are true experts on the plants that they grow . Often , these organic herbal farms are relatively small and cannot meet larger supply chain needs , so it was important for us to form these partnerships with organic herbal farmers and their co-ops , to help them grow with us over time .
The first & only , full line of herbal products to be Certified USDA Organic , Non-GMO Verified , Certified Gluten Free and Vegan .
After sourcing , the next issue we needed to address was the extraction method used for obtaining each of the active ingredients for our dual-certified herbs . It ’ s common practice in our industry to use solvents for botanical extracts ; these solvents typically include hexane and alcohol derived from genetically modified corn . These were definitely not an option for us . Therefore , we had to set about creating clean extraction methods .
All of our mykind Herbals are created using only a clean extraction process without petroleum-based chemical solvents or geneticallymodified corn alcohol . Wherever possible , we utilize water for infusions or steam extraction . We utilize water extraction techniques to gently remove the water-soluble components of the plants . For fat-soluble actives , we only use organic , non-GMO ethanol — never hexane , methanol or any other harsh chemicals .
Third party independent testing at every step of the way is part of the traceability required for all mykind products . Additionally , testing for full botanical identity is imperative to ensure our herbal ingredients are not blended with inferior sources , or with lower quality parts of the same plant , or even a different plant !
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