Page 9
The Willner Window Product Reference Catalog, Autumn, 2015
since 1911
• Willner Chemists •
the nutritional supplement professionals
Questions & Answers: Willner
Chemists’ Phyto-Tech™ Herbal
Supplements, an Interview with
Derek Wan, Shenzhen, China.
The Phyto-Tech™ Herbal Supplement line
from Willner Chemists is gaining popularity
not only in the United States, but also
throughout the world. Our approach--avoid-
ing focus on one rigid philosophy and
instead, drawing on the accumulated wisdom
of traditional medicine, from different
regions, and combining it with modern sci-
ence and pharmacology to achieve maxi-
mum efficacy and safety–resonates well with
the patient. Efficacy backed by science, and
a healthy respect for Nature, is the basis of
the Phyto-Tech™ approach.
Recently, we answered a series of questions
from Derek Wan, one of our associates in
China:
Derek:
What is the philosophy behind the
Phyto-Tech™ herbal supplement line?
Don Goldberg:
Herbal medicine has been
used for thousands of years. Trial, error,
experience and knowledge has been passed
on from one generation to the next.
Historically, due to differences in indigenous
plants, this body of knowledge is different
from one part of the world to another.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is different
from Ayurvedic Herbal Medicine. Native
American Herbal Medicine is different from
European Herbal medicine. This is to be
expected. But today, the world is much
smaller. We no longer have to limit ourselves
to those herbs that can easily be gathered in
our native area. Instead, we can select those
herbs that are most efficacious, regardless of
part of the world they come from. This is
what we do in the Phyto-Tech™ herbal line.
No geographical limitations. No philosophical
limitations. We utilize those herbs that are
safe, stable and most efficacious.
Derek:
Anything else?
Don Goldberg:
Yes. The other guiding
principle is that we strive to combine the
best of modern science with traditional
methodologies. Today, we have the capability
to better identify the active constituents of
medicinal herbs. We have much more
sophisticated extraction methodologies avail-
able to us, enabling optimal concentration
and even isolation of the most active ingredi-
ents. And, equally important, we can better
standardize herbal supplements, ensuring
that today’s batch is identical last week’s
batch and next week’s batch. Potency can
better be measured, and purity guaranteed.
Derek:
Does Willner Chemists actually
produce the Phyto-Tech™ herbal supple-
ments in New York?
Don Goldberg:
No. The manufacture of
products of this type is a very specialized and
demanding process. Even though Arnie and I
(Arnie Gitomer, R.Ph. and Don Goldberg,
R.Ph., the owners of Willner Chemists) have
extensive experience in manufacturing and
quality control, we felt it was imperative that
we partnered with someone who specialized
in this field. After careful investigation, we
found an herbalist we would trust, Mitch
Coven, and we partner with him to supply
our Phyto-Tech™ herbal products.
Derek:
Give me an example of what crite-
ria you used when you chose Mitch as your
partner over other sources.
Don Goldberg:
Certainly. One of the most
important things we looked for was quality
and integrity. This is an issue currently in the
news, in fact. Are there herbal products on
the store shelves that do not actually contain
the herb listed on the label? This is a big
problem. Well, there are many ways to
insure the identity and quality of herbal sup-
plements. Yes, you can talk about sophisticat-
ed instrumental testing, DNA barcoding, etc,
but one of the most important measures,
often overlooked, and the actual physical
examination of the raw herb. Surprisingly,
this simple, basic step is not always per-
formed. Why? Some companies purchase
herbs that have already been processed.
Another company, for example, has acquired
the raw herb–roots, leaf, flowers, etc–and
ground it into a powder. The powder–rather
than the raw herb-- is then shipped to the
herbal company for additional processing
(encapsulation, maceration, etc). This means
that the company cannot examine the raw
herb in its native condition. This is a signifi-
cant problem. It’s easy to see that ginkgo leaf
is indeed ginkgo when can examine the leaf–
it’s not so easy when all you have is a green
powder. It’s easy to evaluate the identity and
quality of ginseng root when you can exam-
ine the root–it’s not so easy when all you
have is a brown powder. We start with the
raw herb, not a powder, and this is just one
example of why we chose to work with
Mitch over other sources.
Derek:
What kind of facility does Mitch
run, and where is it located.
The facility is in New
Mexico. It is a FDA (U.S. Food and Drug
Administration) registered manufacturing
plant, with strict, monitored quality control
procedures. CGMP’s (Current Good
Manufacturing Practices) for dietary supple-
ments are followed. Founded in 1982, the
facility was upgraded several years ago from
21,000 to 109,000 square feet, five times the
size. Mitch is already looking to expand
again.
Derek:
What are some of the other fea-
tures employed in the manufacture of the
Phyto-Tech™ herbal supplements?
Don Goldberg:
•Certified Organic: Most of the herbs used
are certified organic from medicinal herb
farms.
•Ethically Wildharvested: Our wild herbs
are sensitively harvested to ensure a renew-
able resource. Threatened plants such as wild
Echinacea, Goldenseal and Ginseng are
organically grown.
•Extraction Methodology: As mentioned
above, our fresh plant products use fresh
herbs collected at the peak of potency and
processed within hours of harvest. For dry
percolations, a double process using macera-
tion followed by cold percolation is utilized.
•Full Spectrum Extracts: It is not always
possible to identify a single active ingredient
in an herbal medicine. In fact, one of the
advantages of herbal medicines is that the
activity is the result of a synergistic combina-
tion of ingredients that interact with each
other. We firmly believe that retaining as
much of this synergistic blend as possible is
greatly advantageous to the overall efficacy of
the product. Our process ensures that the full
biochemical spectrums of the active plant
parts are used. These saturated extracts use a
fresh plant ratio of 1:1 to 1:2. Ratios of dry
plant extracts are usually 1:2 or 1:3.
Derek:
The technology behind the pro-
duction of the Phyto-Tech™ certainly seems
impressive. What about the formulations
themselves? Who is responsible for formulat-
ing the products.
Don Goldberg:
All three of us have phar-
maceutical and medical background.
•Donald Goldberg, R.Ph.: Don received
his pharmacy training on the east coast but
moved to California right after graduation to
accept a position as Director of Quality
Control for Ingram Pharmaceutical Company.
He received his Pharmacist license in
California, but remained in the industrial set-
ting, moving from Quality Control to manu-
facturing, product development and market-
ing with companies such as Boericke &
Runyon, Shaklee and Vitamix, where he spe-
cialized in formulation and marketing of
glandular supplements and dispersable pow-
dered protein products. He returned to the
East coast, accepting the position of Vice
President of Faraday Labs (Nutri-Dyn, Sivad).
After several years, he joined Lewis-Gitomer
Labs, where he was more directly involved
with marketing directly to physicians. It was
at this time that he published his first
newsletter and began what has turned out to
be a lasting relationship with Arnold Gitomer.
Before rejoining Arnie at Willners, however,
Don spent two years as Technical Director
for Arkopharma, helping them introduce
their line of French phytopharmaceutical
products to the American market. He pub-
lished a newsletter for physicians, called
Phytofacts, and lectured on herbal medicine
throughout the United States and Canada.
After this, he started his own company,
Nutriceutics, distributing professional nutri-
tional, herbal and homeopathic products
directly to health practitioners. In addition to
Phytofacts, Don also published the
Nutriceutics News and was the contributing
editor, nutrition, for The Chiropractic Journal.
His articles have been published in several
professional journals, and he was the assis-
tant Sysop on Compuserve’s Natural
Medicine Forum. In September 1992, Don
joined forces again with Arnie Gitomer, buy-
ing Willner Chemists. Together, Don and
Arnie have published a widely acclaimed
book, The Best Supplements For Your
Health, and co-hosted a popular two-hour
radio program on WOR, every Sunday after-
noon, for 18 years.
•Arnold Gitomer, R.Ph. Arnie is a graduate
of the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy (1965).
After three years in retail pharmacy, he
moved to industry, accepting the position of
Chief Pharmacist with West Ward, and later,
Columbia Pharmaceutical Company. Through
his involvement in compounding, formulat-
ing and manufacturing, he developed an
expertise in the technical aspects of nutrition-
al supplement products. He then founded
Lewis-Gitomer Labs, where he began to
work closely with alternative health profes-
sionals. As a distributor of Nutri-Dyn
Products, he became intimately familiar with
the requirements of holistic practitioners, and
the use of nutritional, glandular and homeo-
pathic products. For two years, he taught tox-
icology at the New York Chiropractic College,
and participated in numerous postgraduate
training programs in applied kinesiology,
nutritional blood chemistry analysis, and
nutritional pharmacology. In, 1992, of
course, he joined Don as co-owner of
Willner Chemists. Together, Arnie and Don
have published a widely acclaimed book,
The Best Supplements For Your Health, and
co-hosted a popular two-hour radio program
on WOR, every Sunday afternoon, for 18
years.
•Mitch Coven, medical herbalist, is the
founder and president of Vitality Works, Inc.,
a wellness clinic and FDA-registered herbal
extraction lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Since 1982, Mitch has worked with thou-
sands of patients, using herbal medicines in a
holistic context. His interest in herbal medi-
cine grew out of his studies as a pre-pharma-
cy student in the 1970s. Seeking a more
holistic approach to health, Mitch studied
herbal medicine and nutrition with herbalists
and medical doctors, and was heavily influ-
enced by his studies with Michael Moore at
the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine.
Mitch lectures widely and presents at confer-
ences and hospitals around the country. He
has been a faculty member of the National
College of Phytotherapy, serves on the board
of the American Herbal Products Association
(APHA), and is very active in regulatory
affairs affecting the herbal supplement indus-
try.
Derek:
I understand the advantages of
using the actual whole, raw herbs in verifying
identity and purity, but what other measures
do you take to ensure the quality of Phyto-
Tech™ herbal supplements?
Don Goldberg:
We rely on a combination
of in-house testing and outside laboratory
(3rd party testing).
•Here is what we do “in-house” (in our
own laboratory). We perform careful micro-
bial testing of every batch. We utilize
advanced analytical tools, including FT-IR
(Fourier Transform Infrared
Questions & Answers: Willner Chemists Phyto-Tech™ Herbal Supplements
Mitch Coven and Emigdio . . . going to the
source, tapping native wisdom.
We partnered with Mitch Coven, who
manufactures our Phyto-Tech™ herbal
supplements
Fourier Transform Infrared
Spectrophotometry--one of the instruments
used to check identity
