Michael McGuffin was a true influencer. Not in the modern sense of someone who builds a personal brand cult by flooding social media with provocative content and amassing “likes” and followers. But in the older, more noble sense: one whose quiet but unflagging commitment to good work had profound, far-reaching impact on the world.
Highly respected for his vast knowledge of herbs and his tireless advocacy of botanical medicine, McGuffin did the homework, cultivated the relationships, and laid the groundwork for the modern herbal industry.
If you use herbs personally or in your practice, if you have colleagues, friends, or family members who’ve benefitted from botanical medicine, your life has been touched by Michael McGuffin’s.
Throughout his 25 years as President of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), and earlier, as co-founder of a vanguard botanical medicine company, he gracefully mediated between the ‘60s-era back-to-the-landers who sparked the modern herbal renaissance, and the commerce-savvy finance bros who transformed a cottage industry into a $233 billion global market.
Bridge-Builder
“I want to be remembered as someone who strengthened the voice of our industry, built bridges between stakeholders, and ensured that AHPA was a respected and influential force in regulatory and legislative matters,” said McGuffin, in an interview with New Hope Natural Media, originally published on February 12, a few days before his death from cancer on February 17th.
“Most importantly, I hope I have helped create an industry that is better positioned for the future—one that is more transparent, more accountable, and more committed to quality than ever before.”
On all those counts, McGuffin succeeded admirably. His accomplishments were many, and included:
Publication of Herbs of Commerce: This landmark 1992 book, authored by McGuffin and three other herb experts, quickly became a foundational reference for the botanicals industry. It standardized and codified nomenclature for more than 2,800 common medicinal and culinary herbs, including those used in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda. Herbs of Commerce established a comprehensive lexicon for naming, identifying, and categorizing the most widely used herbs. It did so in a way that honored the traditional sources and colloquial names upon which modern herbalism is based, while recognizing the need for new standards. Herbs of Commerce was updated in 2023, a project which McGuffin oversaw.
Botanical Safety Handbook: Under McGuffin’s leadership, AHPA published this important reference text in 1997. It compiles thorough safety profiles for 500 of the most commonly used herbs, drawing on data from clinical trials, pharmacological and toxicological studies, medical case reports, and historical texts. Botanical Safety Handbook includes information on herb-drug interactions, pharmacokinetics of key phytochemicals, safe use during pregnancy and lactation, and guidelines for proper product labeling. It was revised in 2013.
Developing DSHEA: As an APHA board member, McGuffin played a key role in developing the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA), a 1994 law that established dietary supplements as a distinct product category, and set up the federal framework for regulating the growing industry. McGuffin worked closely with Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), the bill’s sponsors, ensuring that herbs were properly and fairly represented under DSHEA.
Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act: McGuffin was an essential player in the drafting and promoting this 2006 federal legislation, which established a system for the recording of serious adverse events associated with use of supplements, including herbal medicines. The law requires supplement makers to report to the FDA any and all reports of serious adverse events (deaths, life-threatening conditions, hospitalizations, birth defects, etc) associated with use of their products. It mandates that manufacturers archive all such reports for a minimum of 6 years. The law improved FDA’s ability to monitor the industry, increasing transparency and confidence.
AHPA Guidance Documents: During McGuffin’s tenure, AHPA issued dozens of guidelines covering everything from good manufacturing practices and analytical testing methods, to herbal product labeling and prevention of ingredient adulteration. These guidelines helped establish AHPA as a unified and credible advocate for the herbal industry.
From “Fruit Tramp” to Business Founder
Michael McGuffin was born on September 19, 1951, in Louisville, KY. His botanical odyssey began in 1974, when he was a young long-hair living in Venice, CA.
“Two other hippies and I opened a groovy little produce store on the boardwalk in Venice CA. We sold fresh fruits and vegetables and bulk dried herbs, and nothing in a package. We called the store Venice Fruit Tramps and paid $400 a month rent at 425 Ocean Front Walk,” McGuffin recalled in a recent article describing this venture and the counterculture vortex from which it sprang.
Though Fruit Tramps ultimately went the way of many such idealistic endeavors from that era, it provided invaluable learning experiences which served McGuffin well.
By 1979, he had teamed up with Janet Zand, OMD, LAc, to form McZand, the first company to produce modern herbal tinctures based on traditional Chinese formulas for the broader American market. The company, later renamed Zand, became a major mass-market heavy hitter and remains in business today. McZand provided McGuffin an opportunity to hone his business acumen, while increasing his knowledge of herbs, product development, and regulatory statutes.
McGuffin was not formally trained in botany or herbal medicine, and he never practiced as a clinical herbalist. But he had a very sharp mind, a thirst for learning, and deep love of plants, gardening, and all things green and growing. These factors fostered a lifelong effort of self-education. By the time he joined AHPA’s board of trustees in 1990, he was widely respected as one of the nation’s foremost experts on botanical nomenclature, traditional use of herbs, and analytical methodology for plant identification.
“He was able to grow just about anything—his delicious garden, our company, AHPA—anything. Michael set an extraordinary bar wherever he went,” recalled Janet Zand his former business partner and longtime friend, in an interview with New Hope Network.
The “garden” Zand mentioned is actually an urban farm plot situated in Venice, CA, in which McGuffin cultivated an array of row crops, perennial tree crops like figs and avocados, and of course, diverse herbs. Though he spent much of his time wearing suits and conversing with business leaders and regulators, this was a man who enjoyed getting his hands and feet into the earth.
He had a particular gift for growing tomatos, and freely shared heirloom seeds that he’d archived for years. He was also an active member of the Verdant Venice Group, a volunteer organization dedicated to planting trees and greening up low-income parts of the town.
A Sharp Mind
“Michael had one of the sharpest minds of anyone I have ever known,” says Roy Upton, a practicing herbalist and founder of the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, who is a longstanding AHPA member, and who worked closely with McGuffin on many industry initiatives over the last 30 years. “What he knew he knew very well. What he did not know he admitted he didn’t know, and what he needed to know he learned—and he did not flaunt his brilliance.”
“There was no fluff with Michael—never any self-aggrandizing. He was always focused on the task at hand; very much solution-oriented. He did his work relatively quietly, without fanfare and with great effectiveness. All of a sudden, there was a new document or text. Behind the scenes, those works took thousands of person-hours, tireless organization and management, years to bring to finalization, and each has become a foundational resource for the entire industry–worldwide! Getting a job done was all the reward he really needed,” wrote Upton in a tribute, shared in an email.
AHPA is one of several organizations that have collectively fostered the evolution of herbal medicine in this country and abroad over the last 4 decades. But it stands out for the breadth of its membership—which includes cultivators, herbal medicine practitioners, formulators, raw materials suppliers, manufacturers, marketers, and policy-makers—and for its engagement with federal, state, and international regulators.
Though he did not always agree with regulatory actions taken by the FDA, FTC, or state level players–such as former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who in 2015 mis-applied DNA ‘barcoding’ tests to vilify the herb industry—Michael McGuffin was always willing to engage in dialog. He had the ears of people in the regulatory agencies because he was very well-informed and argued reasonably for firm but fair rules that fostered honest and healthful businesses while also protecting the public.
“He had the great gift of clarity of thought and opinion,” recalls Loren Israelsen, president of the United Natural Products Alliance (UNPA), another key industry trade group, who knew McGuffin professionally and personally for decades.
“His fondness to share a new recipe he had been working on always found its way into our business phone calls. He admired the eclectic physicians of the past century who took the best ideas and blended them into something better, because he, too, was eclectic. He walked with equal confidence the halls of Congress, the great herb gardens of the world, and his own quiet paths known to few of us,” Israelsen wrote. “His garden will miss him, as will I.”
The Forest and the Trees
Michael McGuffin had a talent for finding and defining common ground shared by diverse thought-leaders, agencies, and organizations that did not always see eye-to-eye on all issues.
AHP’s Roy Upton recalls: “Based on my observations and in my 29 years as a member, AHPA has been the most effective of the trade associations in representing issues of importance to herbal healthcare to virtually all stakeholders: American Herbal Pharmacopoeia, FDA, NSF International, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), US Fish and Wildlife Serivce, National Center for Natural Products Research, United Plant Savers, and United States Pharmacopeia, to name a few.”
“He had the ability to deal with both the forest and the trees,” says Mark Blumenthal, another herb world titan, who is founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council .
“While being able to attend to the fine points and nuances of state and federal regulation, Michael also had a wide, strategic vision,” Blumenthal wrote in a tribute.
“He was a master of key information on a wide spectrum of significant issues necessary for the success of small, medium, and large herb businesses. When the history of the herb industry in the United States is written — 50 or perhaps 100 years from now — Michael will be at the top of the list of people who have been instrumental” in building it.
Working Until the End
McGuffin was a private man who closely guarded his personal life. Colleagues who knew, loved, and worked with him for decades say they knew surprisingly little about his upbringing or family. He kept his cancer diagnosis out of the news, and though he cut back on travel and trade shows in the last 2 years, he kept working as much as he could, until the end of his life.
He formally stepped down as AHPA’s president in January, stating: “It has been an honor to lead both this incredible organization and the fight to ensure our families, friends, and neighbors have access to safe, high-quality herbal products and dietary supplements and that our members have a collective voice and the resources they need to succeed despite an ever-evolving regulatory landscape and marketplace.”
In his characteristic self-effacing manner, he called no attention to his illness or his suffering, saying only: “After a long and fulfilling career at the helm of AHPA, this moment feels like the right time for both the organization and for me personally to embrace a change in leadership.”
McGuffin promised to share his knowledge and expertise with his successor, and to continue serving AHPA as an advisor. If only he’d lived long enough to fulfill those commitments. Michael McGuffin died a mere four weeks after relinquishing his leadership role.
On March 6, the organization announced that its board had selected Graham Rigby as AHPA’s new President and CEO. McGuffin had been involved in the search process, and was fully aware of and supportive of Rigby—a long time AHPA board member with decades of executive experience– as his successor.
Rigby has helmed several major herbal product brands including Organic India, and New Chapter (Procter & Gamble), and most recently worked on the development of IngredientAI, a start-up focused on applying AI tools to nutraceutical ingredient discovery.
“I am honored to step into this role,” said Rigby. “Michael McGuffin’s leadership shaped this organization and the industry in profound ways, and I am committed to carrying forward his vision.”
Public sources give little information about McGuffin’s family or survivors. But the outpouring of remembrances and testimonials from the myriad friends, colleagues, and collaborators whose lives he touched are a testament to his integrity, intelligence, kindness, and commitment to making the world a better—and greener—place.
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