JULY 2010

Herbal supplements are no longer just for health-food stores, according to a new report from the American Botani-cal Council trade association: Americans spent a record $335 million in 2009 on herbal supplements in “mainstream market channels” such as supermarkets and drugstores, an increase of 14%. The top-selling single-herbals in mainstream stores were saw palmetto, echinacea and extracts of cranberry, soy and garlic—despite the lack of clear scientific evidence for most of those products’ claimed benefits. Total herbal-supplement sales through all chan-nels were estimated at just over $5 billion, up 5% over the previous year.