You may have heard about the new European directive that came into force on May 1^st which affects the sales of traditional health medicines. The Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive (THMPD) requires all herbal medicines be sold under licence.

To continue to sell Pukka’s traditional Ayurvedic herbal capsules  (such as Trikatu, Triphala and Brahmi Plus), we have relabelled them as Food Supplements. Doing so allows us to provide them under the European Food Supplements Directive and we are confident that this will ensure their legality.

We continue to invest in new product development to ensure that we have a wide selection of effective high quality botanicals and supplements to help maintain your health long into the future. This work has resulted in the introduction of our incredible Organic Bio Nutrients and Organic Botanicals and the other products we make being clearly labelled as foods or food supplements (e.g. teas, Aloe Vera, edible oils, herbal capsules). This decision is based on the history of the ingredients used and the absence of any medicinal claims.

Our aim is to ensure that you will always have the freedom to choose herbal remedies that you have safely benefited from over the years.

Our stance on the THMPD directive

We’ve long been politically active in lobbying for changes to be made to the THMPD as we believe it is:

• A disproportionate regulation, especially for herbs from non-European traditional medicinal systems such as Ayurveda.
• An infringement on human rights by limiting an individual’s access to natural plant medicines

As a result we have been supporting the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH, http://www.anh-europe.org/) in their pursuit of a Judicial Review that will question the current form of the THMPD. In the long-term this means pursuing a specific regulatory framework for traditional medical products.

Please be assured that we are doing all we can to provide you with the highest quality herbal remedies to maintain your health. Our aim has always been to promote the incredible health benefits of organic herbs and we look forward to doing so long into the future.

Thank you for all your support.