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Herbal Knowledge
What "science-based" means on a label
The phrase is used so often it has nearly lost meaning. There is a simple way to test it.
By PHI Team · 30 May 2026 · 4 min read
Three questions
For any product claiming to be science-based, three questions usually suffice:
- Is the raw material characterised, or merely chosen by habit?
- Are process parameters set, or inherited by tradition?
- Can the claim be shown with data, or only repeated?
What does not count
Printing a Latin plant name is not science. Putting a diagram on the pack is not science. Saying "extract" without stating the solvent and ratio is not either.
An honest boundary
A science-based approach also means admitting limits. What has not been tested is described as untested, not polished into something that sounds tested.
For a buyer, "we have not tested that" is more useful than a claim that cannot be traced.