Quality Control & Testing

Komal Herbals is focused on offering highest quality Certified Organic herbs, spices, grains, and various other health product to our customers. We source these ingredients from trusted suppliers from around the world.

Sustainable harvest practices, combined with Good Agriculture Practices, and Organic certifications are just some of the criteria we require from our suppliers, foreign and domestically within the USA.  When sourcing we work with cooperatives of small farmers in India that promote sustainable and organic farming. Additionally, we utilize steam treated spices and herbs where applicable to ensure integrity and higher quality of ingredients.

We at Komal Herbals, have strict requirements of testing and certificate of analysis for all ingredients including herbs from our suppliers. Additionally, the herbs and finished products are subject to a number of analytical tests, most of them include botanical identification and physical/instrumental identification, microbiological, and heavy metals testing. To help us in our effort we have partnered with some reputable, independent third-party labs within the U.S. for testing.

The criteria for meeting the quality are just not limited to the following:

• Identification
• Microbiological
• Heavy Metals
• Pesticides
• Certified Organic
• Kosher
• Quality Excellence

Identification

• Organoleptic:  Each ingredient is evaluated for texture, color, aroma, and flavor to ensure that it conforms to a known standard of the product.

• Microscopic: The sampled botanical is visual inspected under a high-powered microscope to verify that the internal structure of the plant part like cells, cell walls, cell structure and characteristics, etc. comply with a known pharmacopeia standard.

• HPTLC: High Performance Thin Layer Chromatograph helps to accurately determine product identity and purity of a botanical. It is also an effective tool in identifying any plant based adulterant present in the product. This method is selectively used for both the raw botanicals and finished products.

We use these tests to identify and verify that what we are bringing in is the correct species. Only upon passing these tests the ingredients are processed for further use.

Physical Analysis

• Particle Size: Based on our requirement we buy herbs in different forms like whole, powder, tea bag cut or cut and sift. A sieve analysis is used to measure the total particle size distribution of a prepared sample where needed.

• Tapped Density: Measures the density of a prepared sample (g/ml). This test can help us decide the suitability of the raw material for certain finished products.

Microbiological

All our ingredients and finished products for every batch are periodically tested using independent third-party lab for Total Aerobic Plate Count, Yeast and Mold, Coliform, E. coli, and Salmonella and these tests are performed as needed. We do not solely rely on the testing data provided on the certificates of analysis by our vendors. Our labs use all appropriate testing methods for analysis as recommended by the following third-party organizations and protocols:

• For microbiological analyses of foods and cosmetics, the FDA’s preferred laboratory procedure is Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM). These procedures are used for the detection of bacteria, parasites, yeast, mold, viruses, and microbial toxins.
• USP methods published by USP, an organization that sets standards for public health to help ensure the quality and safety of medicines, supplements, and foods.
• Methods of analysis to evaluate chemistry, microbiology, and molecular biology by AOAC (Official Methods of Analysis) International.

Heavy Metals

Heavy metals (lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium), while sometimes naturally occurring, can be harmful in significant amounts. We do not add any of these elements intentionally. All our herbs, spices and finished products are tested periodically by independent third-party lab for heavy metals meeting internationally accepted safety standards as stipulated by the American National Standards Institute/National Sanitation Foundation International Dietary Supplement Standard 173 (ANSI 173).

Pesticides

• Certified organic herbs require its entire production free from the use of pesticides, genetic engineering (GMOs) and use of any other contaminant such as sewage sludge.

 A regulatory program strictly enforced by the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service is the gold standard in the United States for certified organic materials known as the National Organics Program (NOP). A product must be validated by an accredited certifying agency for it to be certified organic. All of our organic herbs and spices that we source, and use are USDA certified organic.

Certified Organic

Komal Herbals takes pride in offering high quality products manufactured in a facility that is certified organic by Pennsylvania Certified Organic (PCO) since 2011. PCO is an organic certifying agency that is USDA accredited for educating and certifying farmers, processors and handlers of Organic Crops, Wild Crops, and livestock within the contiguous United States. PCO certifies that our facility operates under the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). We offer the largest selection of certified organic Ayurvedic whole herbs, species and products formulated from them.

Kosher

Our facility has been working with Earth Kosher since 2008 and certified with "Pareve" status. We are proud to be Kosher certified and continually strive to meet and exceed the standards by carefully producing and thoroughly inspecting our ingredients and production to ensure high quality, safe and reliable products.

Quality Excellence

The FDA sets guidelines to ensure Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP).

Our new State-of-the-Art manufacturing facility is third-party certified cGMP through SGS. We work closely with SGS to exceed FDA expectations to ensure our facility is operating at the safest and highest quality standards.

At Komal Herbals, all the aspects of operation are well documented from receiving of a raw material to shipping the finished product to our customers. We ensure that all the protocols are in alignment with industry standards and in accordance with the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA), the FDA’s cGMPs (current Good Manufacturing Practices) as well as USDA's National Organic Program.

We have been an active member of AHPA (American Herbal Products Association) since inception. Our team works diligently to improve our systems, facility, and procedures because we know that quality is of prime importance to our customers.

We do not use or process wheat, corn, and soy nuts. We have stringent measures in place to prevent cross-contamination. Our facility is temperature and humidity controlled to ensure optimum quality and freshness of each herb and product made therefrom.

California's Proposition 65

For us to better serve our California customers or our Private Label and Custom Manufacturing partners who serve to their California customers on a continuous basis and to be in compliance with California's Proposition 65, we have added the warning label to our products sold in State of California and ask our Private Label and Custom Manufacturing partners also to add such warning label on the products sourced from us. According to the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), “The Prop 65 warnings may be alarming and even misleading, but they are well-intentioned, and the warnings on products present no actual risk.” 

Learn more about Prop 65.