ABC awards botanical excellence at 16th annual celebration ceremony Michael McGuffin, Dr Paula Brown, and Jerry Cott were among the recipients at this year’s ABC Botanical Excellence Awards.
Held virtually on May 25 and livestreamed on ABC’s YouTube channel, the American Botanical Council’s 16th annual Celebration and Botanical Excellence Awards honored individuals and companies who have made outstanding contributions to the herbal and botanical communities.
“ABC’s Botanical Excellence Awards are granted to individuals and commercial businesses that are committed to excellence in exploring and expanding the scientific research on herbs, medicinal plants, phytomedicines, medicinal fungi, and other natural products with therapeutic value,” said Mark Blumenthal, ABC’s founder and executive director.
American Botanical Council Presents Botanical Excellence Awards at 16th Annual Celebration Ceremony
AUSTIN, Texas, May 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) The American Botanical Council (ABC) presented six awards during its 16th annual Celebration and Botanical Excellence Awards Ceremony on May 25, which was held virtually for the first time and livestreamed on ABC’s YouTube channel.
The one-hour program is available for on-demand streaming on ABC’s YouTube channel and website.
Photos of the award recipients are available here.
This year’s event celebrated the accomplishments of the nonprofit education organization in its 33rd year and honored the recipients of six Botanical Excellence Awards. ABC’s Botanical Excellence Awards were initiated in 2006. Recipients were chosen based on their outstanding contributions to the herbal and botanical communities.
FDA ‘not looking to throw out DSHEA’ An FDA official on Monday discussed the potential modernization of a 27-year-old law governing the regulation of dietary supplements.
FDA in recent years has supported efforts to modernize the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). But the agency “is not looking to throw out DSHEA and start fresh,” an FDA official said Monday during an event hosted by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).
“Rather, we’re talking about building on the current framework,” said Cara Welch, Ph.D., acting director of FDA’s Office of Dietary Supplement Programs (ODSP).
FDA officials are among those in favor of modernizing the law to reflect changes in the marketplace over the last 27 years. The industry has ballooned “from $4 billion in sales in the ’90s to well over $40 billion today [and] from fewer than 4,000 products to estimates as high as 80,000,” Welch reflected during AHPA’s 9th Botanical Congre
Bipartisan Senate CBD bill introduced A US Senate bill to specifically allow the use of CBD and other hemp derivatives in dietary supplements and foods has been introduced with bipartisan sponsorship. The bill also enjoys broad support within the industry.
The bill was introduced today by US Sens. Ron Wyden, D-OR, Rand Paul, R-KY and Jeff Merkley, D-OR.
FDA has ruled that CBD is not a legal dietary ingredient because it was first investigated as a drug. That drug, Epidiolex from GW Pharmaceuticals, has been approved to treat seizures in children suffering from two forms of intractable epilepsy.
FDA policing claims, but not production