Food Safety Concerns: Panoptic Solution using Polyherbals

The discovery of antibiotics in 1928 has led to a revolution in the field of medical and veterinary sciences. The use of antibiotics started and the practice is done till date with a large number and different generations of antibiotics available to us. These antibiotics have a greater role to play to save the lives and they have saved millions of lives which became the reason for its indiscriminate uses and thereafter development of resistant strains of bacteria. The resistance further led to development of newer series of antibacterial’s and at present we are laden with a vast number of such medicines as well as resistant and sensitive strains of bacteria. But since last few years, its misuses and resistance development has been one of the most discussed global concern particularly in terms of food safety.

Food safety, defined in short as conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses, is yet another topic of discussion involving almost all the countries to avail its people with safe and hygienic food.
But now-a-days thinking of food safety along with simultaneous, continued and indiscriminate uses of antibiotics is nothing less than a day dream. This article will just try to enlighten this extremely crucial issue of risks to food safety due to anti bacterials, what possibly could be the solution to this problem and how Ayurvet is continuously trying to work over this challenge of food safety and help in developing a natural and safe solution.

Antibiotics are antimicrobials which are produced by a micro-organism and can kill or inhibit growth of other organisms. But sometimes an organism that was susceptible to an antibiotic is no longer killed or its growth is suspended by the same antibiotic and this is known as antibacterial resistance. A number of mechanisms are involved in the development of resistance in these micro-organisms.

As a result of this antibacterial resistance and food safety issues, various alternatives have been suggested by different group of researchers and scientists. Among the natural alternatives that we have, herbs have been found to be one of the best alternatives in present era. Phytoactive ingredients have synergistic effects when they are mixed in certain ratio from different herbs. This synergistic activity may be many times higher than that of individual herbal activity and this is the basis of polyherbal solutions. More than 5000 year old science of Ayurveda and its principles when scrutinized through the lense of science, amazing results were evident particularly with respect to the food safety concerns. This science of polyherbalism has rock solid foundation of traditional knowledge with capabilities to standardize phytochemicals through modern research. Herbal products involves the use of plants or its parts for preventive as well as therapeutic purpose. Depending on the plant, a number of plant parts may be used as medicine, including the seeds, berries, roots, leaves, bark and flowers and when different herbs are combined, a synergy exists inbetween them which increases the potency of the combination. With the increasing interest in animal health and wellness, as well as disinterest towards traditional antibiotic therapy due to a number of reasons, natural alternatives are becoming increasingly popular globally.

Scientific researches in recent years have shown that herbals can be highly effective for many conditions. Herbal therapy is considered safer and effective apart from being easily available. Certain specific reasons why herbs should be preferred over antibiotics and other allopathic medicines are further explained as,

Synergy: Herbs when combined show synergistic action which increases the potency and efficacy of synergistic herbal ingredients which ultimately increases the therapeutic efficacy of the product as a whole.

No residual effects: Unlike antibiotics the herbals does not show residual effects which is the most crucial part of this alternative system especially in context to the food safety issues.

Least side effects: The herbals are generally considered to be free from side efects, if any, it may be of very mild nature which will not lead to any serious veterinary problems. On the other hand a number of side efffects are caused by the allopathic drugs.

Multiple medicinal property: Most prescriptive drugs under the conventional system of medicine are designed for one specific health problem. While, many herbal alternatives act on several parts of the body at the same time and have multiple effects. A single herb can be efective in a number of disease conditions.

Effectiveness in chronic conditions: Herbals are found to be more effective for chronic disorders that don't respond well to conventional medicine. Most of the times, the herbal preparations are found to be extremely effective to treat the cases which are affecting an animal since long.

Widespread availability: One of the most valuable advantages associated with the herbal medicines are their widespread availability. Herbs are easily available and that too doesn’t require a prescription. In some remote parts of the world, herbs may be the only treatment available for treating a large number of animals.

All these advantages in herbal products have led to develop the interest of the farmers associated with the animal production business across the globe. The demand for alternative replacements is increasing day by day. The more is the uses of herbal ingredients safer will be the food production and lesser will be the health hazards due to the uncontrolled use of antibiotics for higher production. The higher profits have been the prime targets of any farm owner and they find it easier to go for antibiotics to prevent their birds and animals free from infectious diseases and get maximum production. But the long term losses are there and the food safety will be compromised if the alternative systems of medicine are not adopted as soon as possible and the above fact has led the think tanks to focus on the alternative system of medicine.

Ayurvet, through its principle of traditional knowledge and modern research, is actively involved in developing polyherbal solutions to counter the food safety challenges and to provide safe and dependable solutions. A wide range of products covering most of the domestic species ensures that we have a natural solution which will soon be the best possible alternative globally.