Ayurvedic and herbal medicines

Even as Swami Ramdev battles accusations about bones in herbal medicines, the Indian herbal industry has moved one step forward in countering allegations of heavy metal content in herbal drugs.

After international charges of harmful heavy metal content in herbal medicines, the Indian ayurvedic industry is fighting back.

With the approval of Union Health Ministry, the industry has now set guidelines for standardised heavy metal content in ayurvedic drugs.

This is expected to help open talks with health authorities in UK, Canada and the US for resumption of ayurvedic exports.

"If we are exporting something for global use, then we must try to satisfy the requirements for these products. I'm not saying we should blindly follow what is required by the pharma industry internationally, but we need a process by which to communicate with different authorities," CEO of Zandu Pharma Narendra Bhatt says.

While metals such as lead is a basic constituent in many ayurvedic drugs, health authorities in the west feel these could be harmful if not substantiated by scientific records.

Even as attempts are on for greater recognition for the Indian ayurvedic sector, sector experts feel that utter neglect of a handful ayurvedic players has complicated matters.