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[Michaelangelica]

Ecinacea is a cottage garden plant with a pretty pink flower. Sometimes called "Black Eyed Susan"
http://www.nutraingredients.com/news...ermint-herbals

Echinacea on the up in UK, say retailers

By Jess Halliday

All news for November 2006


17/11/2006 - With the cold season well and truly upon us, it seems that Brits are turning to herbal remedies in a bid to stave off the sniffles.
Both Boots and the National Association of Healthfood Stores this week reported an increase in sales of echinacea.

The NAHS does not keep in depth statistics, but chair John McKee has estimated sales of the herb to be in the region of £30m.
He told NutraIngredients.com that he believes use of echinacea is increasing.

High street retailer Boots, meanwhile, has reported that it is selling almost 7,000 packs of echinacea per week – around one per minute.

The reports point to opportunities for manufacturers to use herbals in their products and for retailers to stock them.
It also indicates that the market may be ripe for the introduction and promotion of hitherto little-known herbals – such as Frutarom's pink rock rose extract, which has a history of use for respiratory infections and gastrointestinal health.

Of the echinacea gains, McKee said: “I expect it is down to word of mouth.
It gets its fair share of negative publicity, but the people who use it know it works.”

McKee added that echinacea is particularly useful given the tendency for colds to turn into chest infections, since it is an anti-viral as well as an anti-bacterial.
On the other hand, he does not think that fears over bird ‘flu that were rife last year had a great impact in herbs said to protect against colds – even though some experts said that a weakened immune system from ordinary ‘flu or winter illnesses may make people more susceptible to the human form of the H5N1.

A much-publicised study in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2005 concluded that the herb did not have a significant effect on infection with a rhinovirus, but the methodology has been strongly questioned by herbal experts.
In particular, the study did not use a commercially available product, and dosage was lower than the standard dose in the US – 1g per day compared to 3g.