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Our Quality Herb Lab

Lab TestingAt Oregon's Wild Harvest, one of our highest goals is to strive for perfection and truth in all that we do.

Our labor-intensive testing methods reflect our superior processing, and requires considerable attention from the qualified staff. Oregon's Wild Harvest wholly dismisses the misguided philosophy that people can be replaced by machines, or that a lab can be run by smart machines and dumb technicians!

The lab is integral a part of the operation at Oregon's Wild Harvest -- not just a marketing tool, as can be the case of many labs in our industry. All manufacturing is predicated on the test results and approval from the Quality Control (QC) department. The two facets of the company -- manufacturing/production and QC -- work closely with one another to ensure the highest quality certified organic herbs used for herbal supplements, bulk herbs, herbal teas, spices, extracts and herb oils.

We choose the environmentally conscientious option whenever there is a choice. For example, Thin Layer Chromotography (TLC) uses very small amounts of chemical solvents to yield results, whereas High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) uses a wasteful amount of solvent for every assay. Many labs generate a lot of chemical waste that you would not expect from a health food business.  We guarantee herb identity by FTIR (fourier transfer infrared) spectroscopy. The FTIR spectrophotometer requires no solvents or chemicals to perform its instant, pharmaceutical standard testing.

At Oregon's Wild Harvest we routinely test our raw materials for microbial contamination from E-coli, APC (Aerobic Plant Count), yeast, mold, and salmonella.  We have the capability to perform alfatoxin testing if the mold count exceeds specifications. Through an alliance with a local certified analytical laboratory, we routinely screen our products for the presence of heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, and arsenic. The FTIR is also used for testing of adulterants or contaminants in incoming product.

Our in-house botanist confirms the genus and species of our herbs. We use botanical handbooks, a microscope, and a wealth of botanical knowledge in lieu of a technician and an HPLC, simply because we prefer to buy (or grow) our plants whole, whereas many companies buy their material in a powdered form and HAVE to use chemical analysis.

We incorporate modern statistical processes such as Statistical Process Control (SPC), which is the application of statistical techniques for measuring and analyzing manufacturing variables. For instance, weight variation of our capsules is constantly monitored by both QC and the operator to ensure the product conforms to quality standards. In this case all capsules must meet the requirements of the United States Pharmocopoeia (USP).

Oregon's Wild Harvest employs qualified technical people who are empowered to approve or reject processes, products and components. They are not technicians who get lost in the background, but experts whose opinion is essential to the production process. The result? Pure, organic, premium quality certified organic herbs used for supplements, bulk herbs, herbal teas, spices, extracts and herb oils, with the highest degree of effectiveness.