Ensuring Quality
It is what happens to our products before you buy them that is really important in maintaining the continued quality of the products. Our licensed manufacturing site has trained personnel at all levels and includes on-site laboratory testing facilities.
We are the only company that has total control on all the processes involved in formulation, manufacturing, testing, packaging, storage and distribution of veterinary herbal products in the UK.
Quality and microbiological checks, using scientific testing methods, are made on all raw materials before they are used to ensure that they meet the requirements of the British Herbal or the European Pharmacopœias, and to confirm that there is no pollution or contamination. Testing is continued throughout manufacture to ensure conformity and purity. To make sure the products maintain their strength and effectiveness throughout their shelf life, we undertake stability testing to ensure that no deterioration takes place and that every tablet retains its effectiveness throughout its shelf life.
Records are kept of any reports of side effects or adverse reactions to our products. These occur extremely rarely but if you have any particular concern about these issues or would like further information we will be pleased to supply it.
We inspect and audit suppliers from label manufacturers to raw material growers, to ensure that they meet our exacting quality standards. This enables us to assure you, the customer, and ourselves that any product with the Dorwest Herbs name is the quality you expect and so will be effective in use.
Environmental Policy
Helping our Environment
We are lucky enough to live and work in a beautiful part of the world and we are very aware that all our activities have some effect on the environment. We carry out an environmental assessment of all our activities on a regular basis and have done so for many years. We aim to reduce our environmental impact as much as possible and take positive actions to ensure that we are as sustainable as possible in everything we do.
Wherever possible we use plants grown in the UK, often grown to organic standards. In this way we are reducing travel distances, are able to see for ourselves the plants growing in the fields and also are helping with agricultural diversification in the British Isles. Some plants used in medicines and supplements may become rare or endangered and where a plant has been listed by CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) we will find an alternative and reformulate products so as to avoid using these species. We recently reformulated our Digestive Supplement Tablets to remove Golden Seal Root for this reason.
This catalogue is made from paper sourced from sustainable forests and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, most of our literature is printed on paper like this, or part or fully recycled paper. We dispatch your goods in bags produced using a significant proportion of recycled material. We find ways to re-use paper whenever possible but when it has come to the end of its life, we shred all non-confidential paper and use it for packaging to protect products in transit or recycle it through our local community recycling enterprise along with cardboard and even plastic bottle tops. We are obliged by medicine regulations to use plastic tubs for our products but these are made of HDPE and so are recyclable. Even small things can help – we don’t use plastic or paper cups in our staff rooms but provide glasses which can be re-used; we use email whenever possible to communicate with customers and suppliers and we remind the recipient not to print it unless they really need to. By making people aware of what they do and its effect on the environment we hope to help change people’s actions through example.
We no longer send Christmas cards but instead make donations to a local and a national charity; this saves paper and benefits charitable organisations as well. We continually re-assess our environmental impact to find more ways to reduce waste, re-cycle and minimise our carbon footprint.
Animal Testing
Our Assurance
Our range of veterinary products has been proven through their traditional use on companion animals for sixty years. We are pleased to be able to reassure our customers that it is therefore not necessary for the products themselves or any of the traditional ingredients to be subject to any form of unethical animal testing procedures.
