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Home / Washington Business - March/April 2005 / Made in Washington: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Technology |
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Made in Washington: Ancient Remedies Meet Modern Technology |
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Written On: March/April 2005 |
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Written By: by Shawn Sullivan |
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Flora Inc. provides alternative medical solutions using a combination of modern technology and ancient herbs. Flora offers more than 50 herbal remedies for conditions that range from allergies to vascular disorders, and every product shipped from Flora’s Lynden plant is 100 percent certified organic.
Thomas Greither, Flora’s chief executive officer, began his career processing flax seed oil while managing a health food store in Vermont. He realized the need for herbal supplements was on the rise and started looking into herbs known to cure common ailments.
“I started making cold-pressed oils in my health food store, which included flax seed oil,” Greither said. “Flax seed oil is the alternative for fish oil and has been used as a therapeutic remedy since the days of ancient Greece.”
Flax seed oil significantly reduces the effects of skin irritations like eczema and psoriasis and helps with inflammatory and rheumatoid arthritis.
The idea of natural health care products came from a German physician named Otto Greither, Thomas Greither’s grandfather. In 1910, Dr. Greither became severely ill and the only solution offered by his colleagues was to amputate his leg. He decided to follow the advice of a visiting nurse instead and avoided the amputation by receiving herbal infusions. In 1916, he opened the world-famous Salus Haus (health house) in Germany.
Thomas Greither took this devotion to herbal remedies and started Flora Inc. in Vancouver, Canada, during the early 1960s. The next 20 years brought skyrocketing demands for herbal remedies and, in 1988, Greither built a second plant in Lynden, Wash. Today Flora’s Lynden plant employs more than 70 people and ships products to 20 different countries around the world.
A key reason for Flora’s success is the company’s commitment to providing fresh, chemical-free, effective alternatives to modern medications.
Flora selects each of the herbs used in their remedies based on research conducted by in-house scientists. They look at the chemical component needed for a remedy to be effective and grow only those herbs that produce the most amounts. Flora routinely spends two to three years researching the effects and potency of each herbal remedy before putting it on the market. This research ensures that every remedy is completely safe and effective.
Flora handpicks their herbs from selected local organic farmers who do their own seed collecting and harvesting without using chemicals or fertilizer. Greither’s Lynden plant also has an 80-acre farm where he grows herbs not available from local farms.
Flora’s scientists thoroughly inspect samples from every harvested herb that comes to their laboratory for purity and potency. After the initial inspection, the scientists quarantine the seeds in a freezer and analyze them a second time. If they pass the second test and prove to be the highest quality, Flora sorts the seeds individually by type and puts them through technologically advanced extracting machines. Experts press or extract each herb individually to avoid any cross contamination, and each herb has its own extracting process.
Flora is currently working on a product that can cure cancer called Flor •Essence®, which is commonly used as an alternative to chemotherapy in several countries. Flora is conducting studies and working with the Food and Drug Administration for approveal of a patent for distribution in the United States.
“We are currently conducting three different studies for cancer on it,” Greither said. “We have done enough studies on it to market it as a cancer cure in countries like Mexico and other South American countries, and we are three years away from having it as a cancer cure for here as well.”
While herbal remedies that cure cancer are still a few years away, the current variety of herbs and teas that are available give relief to many who are in need. Flora’s goal is to improve the lives of people with safe, effective and relatively inexpensive herbal remedies.
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