5th Annual AHPA Awards declared

The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) declared the names of award winners of its Fifth Annual AHPA Awards recently. AHPA president Michael McGuffin  said that the  AHPA is very thankful to the winners for their efforts and major contribution to the herbal products industry. He further said that constant growth of the industry always depends upon the decisions and actions taken by the active members of the industry. 

Katie Huggins was awarded the 2010 AHPA Hero Award for her active and exceptional contribution to the AHPA committee and initiatives.  She is the vice president of quality control, Traditional Medicines and also vice chairman of AHPA’s Board of Trustees and chairman of the Board of Directors of the AHPA Foundation for Education and Research on Botanicals. Katie Huggins is also involved in number of AHPA committees. She has also participated actively in development of educational events and also in the creation of guidance policies and trade requirements of AHPA.

Secondly, Ikhlas Khan, Ph.D. was honoured with The Herbal Insight Award for understanding and promoting knowledge of medicinal and aromatic plants. He is the assistant director of National Centre for Natural Products Research and Professor of Pharmacognosy, University of Mississippi. He has actively contributed in the growing body of botanical science and also as a director of the FDA Centre for Excellence. He has endeavoured to enhance the knowledge of botanicals among others and also promoted research of future generations of botanical scientists.

And finally, The Herbal Industry Leader Award was received by Gaia Herbs, Brevard, NC for its tremendous business practices. The company was established in 1987 and since then the business of the company is moving above and beyond normal business practices. The company has marked many achievements in the herbal industry. It mainly includes introduction of Earth Bottle, innovations made in the understanding of Echinacea with the help of research, supporting naturopathic medical education, charitable donations of organic produce and many more. Besides, the company has successfully developed its 250 acre commercial, educational and research farm in western North Carolina and also supported public-private botanical sanctuary and medicinal plant research farm in Costa Rica.