Major issues in the development of the traditional Chinese medicine herbal slice industry
2025-08-25
Management issues in the circulation and application of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal slices: Herbal slices are categorized under "agricultural and sideline products," yet their production, distribution, and use are regulated as "pharmaceuticals"—a misaligned approach to management. As a result, the herbal slice market is rife with chaotic practices such as "substituting inferior products for superior ones" and "passing off fakes as genuine," leading to frequent compromises in product quality and ultimately jeopardizing the safety and efficacy of TCM treatments.
Issues in the production of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) granules include: (1) The sources of raw medicinal materials used in granule production are often chaotic, directly affecting the quality of the final product. Most TCM granule manufacturers do not source their raw materials from dedicated cultivation bases; instead, they purchase them from the market. This leads to unclear origins, uncertain harvesting times, and even confusion over the botanical origins of the herbs, making it difficult to consistently ensure high-quality granules. (2) Production processes for TCM granules are often unstandardized, lacking scientifically sound and rigorously controlled quality evaluation criteria. Although TCM granules are officially recognized as pharmaceuticals under national regulations—falling into a major category of medicines—they frequently suffer from inconsistent processing techniques, improper operational practices, and challenges in precisely determining the degree of preparation. Both the *Chinese Pharmacopoeia* and regional and provincial standards for herbal processing rely heavily on traditional methods to assess preparation quality, resulting in poor process control during production. Consequently, the quality of TCM granules remains uneven, and there is currently no widely accepted, objective, easily implementable, or proprietary method available to systematically evaluate and ensure consistent quality. While research achievements in herbal processing developed since the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" have demonstrated promising approaches, these innovations still lack broader practical application. (3) The TCM granule industry suffers from low levels of specialization and scale, which severely limit its overall growth and development. Although GMP upgrades implemented in recent years have helped improve production environments to some extent, many granule manufacturers still operate in a workshop-style manner. Inadequate and mismatched equipment prevents the establishment of truly standardized production lines. As a result, small-scale, multi-functional, and fragmented production practices continue to hinder the industry’s progress toward standardization and large-scale manufacturing.
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Henan Dubang Traditional Chinese Medicine Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
Address: No. 1 Yanshan South Road, Shangji Town, Xichuan County, Nanyang City, Henan Province
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