Purity of Ingredients
Classical Pearls formulas and single herbs are free of pharmaceuticals, preservatives, dyes, yeasts, and sugars.
In addition, all ingredients are independently tested in a US laboratory for heavy metals, pesticides, and microbes. We test our ingredients three times during the manufacturing process for purity, identity and the concentration of active ingredients. Our rigorous testing procedures ensure the safety of our products – at the source in China before and after processing, and then again after entering the US. Our regimen of stringent purity controls contributes to the high level of positive clinical outcomes we aspire to.
Patients who are treated for chronic and recalcitrant diseases often have allergies to ancillary substances such as heavy metals, dyes, yeasts, flow agents and preservatives. Besides the immune responses that these additives may generate in patients, they can potentially interfere with the proper action of herbs and supplements, thereby inhibiting potency and treatment results. As an alternative, we have chosen to use minimal amounts of bentonite clay as an excipient for our formulas due to its hypoallergenic and therapeutic nature. Our capsules are made of the purest vegetable matter as possible – no gelatin is used. Sugars, yeasts, and starches made from rice, corn or potatoes are never used in our formulas.
Considering the uncertainty of materials being imported from China and other parts of the world these days, our goal is to maintain transparency in each step of the growing, harvesting, manufacturing, and testing processes for each of the raw herbs that make up our products. We will soon make available the safety and authenticity certificates for each product on the product detail pages of the website. You must have an account to view this information.
Manufacturing - Setting a New Standard in Quality
We monitor every step of the sourcing, manufacturing, and distribution processes.
herb
We have gone to great lengths to research traditional growing (didao) and preparation (paozhi) methods of our ingredients and formulas. In addition, every formula is manufactured in certified GMP facilities under rigorous standards – both in China and the United States. With great effort, we personally select and inspect the facilities that process and manufacture our formulas and single herbs. While the term supply chain management is often used by businesses to describe design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, we undertake such a task in order to ensure our own high standard of quality in all of our ingredients in the Classical Pearls line of products. As much as possible, we maintain oversight, control, and management of every step of the process – from growing, cultivation and processing, to formulation, manufacturing, testing, and distribution. In addition, our recyclable amber glass bottles are used to inhibit light damage to the ingredients in our formulas, and as much as possible, help us to avoid the use of petroleum plastics during the packaging process.
Potency
We process all of our herbs according to the labor and cost intensive methods specified by the classics of our medicine and relevant paozhi teachings of traditional family lineages.
Generally, our full-spectrum powder extracts arrive at a 10:1 concentration – a much higher level than herbs that have been pulverized or ground from their whole state. This important extraction step of the process ensures that we preserve the most important base constituents of the crude herbs. For our formulas, we decoct all ingredients together. We perform up to five separate extractions (each of a varying length of time) in order to optimize the maximum extraction of all the complex compounds found in the herbs. These extractions are then combined together and then sent through a concentration and drying process. The resulting herbal powder extract is far superior to simply processing each of the herbs individually and combining them once they are dried.
We encapsulate our formulas in the United States, using a state-of-the-art encapsulation machine that ensures accuracy and consistency. The manufacturing of tablet supplements often includes the compression of the ingredients under high pressure and the application of a coating material or the addition of other additives in order to force the ingredients to bind properly. By using an encapsulation process, we preserve the functional integrity of the concentrated extracts we produce.
How We Process and Test Our Ingredients
STEP 1: We carefully select the necessary single ingredients according to the following principles: traditional growing location (didao), attention to the most natural growing/collection techniques, absence of environmental pollution, and direct relationships with the farmers or wild-crafters.
STEP 2: We subject each of the single ingredients to a series of standard tests for heavy metal and pesticide levels. Our testing standards adhere to European and Australian regulations, which tend to be the strictest in the world.
STEP 3: We prepare the concentrated herbal extract by cooking 10kg of raw material to yield approximately 1kg of powder (10:1 concentration ratio). After boiling off most of the liquid, certain volatile ingredients are added back to the decoction and the gelatinous mixture is slowly dried into a concentrated powder. We then send this powder through a high-performance liquid chromatograph to further purify the ingredients.
STEP 4: The powder is then tested again for heavy metals, yeast, mold, E. coli, and other pathogenic bacteria.
STEP 5: Following testing and vacuum sealed packaging, the powders are then shipped from China to us here in Portland, Oregon.
STEP 6: Once the products arrive, we test the powders again for heavy metals, yeast, mold, E. coli, and other pathogenic bacteria. At this point, we also test for pesticides and fungicides. Additional testing is done to confirm the identity of the powder based upon its chemical makeup.
STEP 7: The formula is mixed with bentonite clay – minimal amounts of clay are used as an excipient. We only use enough excipient to make the encapsulation process efficient and provide some protection against clumping. No artificial fillers or sugars are ever used.
STEP 8: We encapsulate with a state-of-the-art encapsulation machine, which ensures accuracy and consistency. All capsules are made with vegetable ingredients.
STEP 9: We use recyclable amber glass bottles in our packaging process. The dark glass protects the product against damaging light. The bottle is sealed to maintain freshness, and we use a perforated neckband to protect against tampering.
STEP 10: We perform one last "finished goods" test to ensure identity of the bottled formulas.