State-of-the-Art Manufacturing

The most common method to package herbs in the health food industry is: grind up the herbs, check the bacteria count, and fumigate as necessary. Sunrider's process is much more elaborate.

13-Step Process
Sunrider's 13-step, nutrient-enhancing process captures the nutrition of the entire herb plant, but gets rid of the indigestible part (cellulose) - resulting in a super-concentrated product containing only the plant nutrients.

Multi-Million Dollar Manufacturing
Sunrider has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in their research and manufacturing facilities. Quality is so critical that all processing - from seed to final product - takes place in Sunrider-owned and managed facilities.

To get the nutrients contained in Sunrider's concentrated food herbs, you would have to consume quantities of food so large that they would be impossible for a human to ingest.

• Sunrider's herb concentrates are five to six times more potent than raw herbs.
  
  
• All nutrients in the herbs have been retained, including the enzymes and volatile oils.
  
  
• We can totally digest a concentrate, whereas we digest only a portion of the nutrients in raw herbs.
  
  
• Desired positive effects are heightened, and unwanted effects are reduced.
  
  

Sunrider's process uses low heat and no chemicals. It consists of 13 steps, each of which is carried out under strict quality control:

1. Grow and Select - The superior quality of Sunrider food formulas begins with the exceptional purity of the raw materials. Sunrider begins with careful selection of the species of the plants and location of its cultivation. Growth is carefully monitored, weak plants are weeded out and the strongest herbs are harvested at the peak of their vitality. It is crucial to understand which part of each plant is to be used. Some herbs are only at their nutritional peak during the night, and that's when they are harvested by Sunrider.
   
   
   
2. Prepare Each Herb - The finest raw herbs are inspected and washed. Each herb is then prepared in a specific way. Some herbs may be soaked in water, some in alcohol, others in special herbal solutions; some may have the skin removed from the root, others not; and so on. The process is carefully controlled to avoid losing nutrients in the liquids used. The method of preparation helps determine the effect of the herb. The same herb can take on different effect when prepared in different ways. The separate preparation procedures for each herb are needed to get the best effect from the formulation.
   
   
3. Dry the Herbs - The herbs are restored to a dry state so that processing can continue.
   
   
4. Weigh and Separate into Groups - The amount of each herb is carefully weighed according to the formula, and then the herbs are combined into several groups depending on the method of extraction to be used: for example, herbs to be water-extracted in one group, herbs to be vinegar-extracted in another, and so on. This step is done under tight quality control.
   
   
5. Set the "Carrier" Herbs Aside - A small part of each group of herbs is set aside to be used as a "carrier" during spray drying (see step 10).
   
   
6. Collect the Volatile Oils - Many herbs contain volatile oils that evaporate quickly and are easily lost from a liquid extract solution. A steam process is used at this point to separate the volatile oils from the rest of the herb. The oils are collected and stored carefully until step 12, when they are returned to the formula.
   
   
7. Extract the Herbal Nutrients - The herbs undergo a three-day, low-heat extraction process, each group of herbs using a different liquid: pure water, licorice water, ginger water, alcohol, or vinegar, for example. The correct liquid must be used to avoid precipitates or other chemical transformations that may destroy nutrients or increase toxicity.
   
   
8. Draw off Alcohol and Vinegar - Both alcohol and vinegar boil at a temperature well below water's boiling point. The alcohol and vinegar extract solutions are heated gradually under controlled pressure until the alcohol and vinegar are converted to a vapor, which is condensed and collected. Only that portion of the liquid that was pure water (about 25% to 30%) remains in solution.
   
   
9. Mix the Extract Solutions - The various extract solutions are mixed in a precise sequence. If they are mixed out of sequence, precipitates may form or one herb may neutralize the effect of another.
   
   
10. Spray Dry the Mixture - The "carrier" herbs that were set aside during step 5 are used at this point. The liquid mixture and the finely milled carrier herbs are sprayed simultaneously into a temperature- and pressure-controlled drum. The particles of the carrier herbs act like the dust in clouds, allowing liquid droplets to form. The particular combination of temperature and pressure, however, quickly causes the water in the liquid to evaporate, leaving the herbal portion of the extract solution clinging to the carrier particles in tiny bead-like pellets.
    
    
11. Mill the Dried Mixture - The bead-like pellets are milled into a fine powder.
    
    
12. Restore the Volatile Oils - The concentrate powder is placed in a device that uses a carefully engineered flow of air to keep the powder suspended in the air in continual motion. The volatile oils that were set aside during step 6 are sprayed into the moving powder, where they are quickly absorbed.
    
    
13. Packaging - Some formulas are put into capsule form for convenience. For some formulas, the concentrated granules themselves are packaged dry for preparing into liquid beverages. Other formulas are sprayed onto "carrier" leaves and then put into tea bags for making a hot tea beverage. Still other formulas are packaged in liquid extract form.