In each of the standardized herbal supplements, the amount of the main ingredient has been standardized with reference to the content or quality of the supplement. In other words, the chemistry of the primary herbal ingredient has been compared to the chemistry of a pure chemical. That comparison has been completed by using various assay methods.

Pharmaceutical Grade Vitamin Supplements

Some supplements contain vitamins in addition to their health-giving, herbal extracts. In that case, the user of such supplements could read that the product has pharmaceutical grade supplements.

When a product promises pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplements, then the person who buys that product knows exactly what chemicals that product does have, and what chemicals that product should not have. A product with pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplements has used safe and recognized fillers in the tablets that will carry the vitamin supplements down the digestive tract.

For example, a product with pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplements could pack those supplements into tablets that might also contain starch, gelatin, soybean oil, silica or magnesium stearate.
A product with pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplements would NOT contain wheat, gluten, corn, lactose, sugar, barley, egg products, flavorings, preservatives or artificial sweeteners.

When a customer buys a product with pharmaceutical grade vitamin supplements, then that customer should feel confident that the product is free from known and recognized allergens. In other words, one would not expect to develop an allergic reaction after using such a product.

So when a label includes the words "pharmaceutical grade," then it is referring to the purity of a product, i.e. the degree to which that product is free of contaminating substances. When a label talks about a product's standardized herbal supplements, then it refers to something other than purity. That label attests to an exacting measurement of the chemical composition of the product's primary ingredient.