How to Buy Ox Gallstones for Chinese Herbal Medicine
Gallstones harvested from cattle are a precious Chinese herbal medicine. They can be found in gallbladders after the bile is filtered without special processing. The gallstones are then ready for sale to buyers simply after being dried to remove all moisture.
Gallstones are sold at the retail level either in their natural form without being processed, or as a propriety Chinese medicine mixed with other ingredients.
Natural gallstones are in high demand for use in Chinese medicine. Reportedly, the Chinese pharmaceutical industry requires about 100 metric tons (MT) of gallstones for a variety of propriety Chinese medicines each year, but domestic supply is barely one MT.
The United States has an expansive cattle industry, slaughtering about 39 million head each year. U.S. beef processing plants are strongly encouraged to explore the possibility of incorporating a simple procedure to collect gallstones during the production process.
Hong Kong’s Import Regulation for Ox Gallstones
Ox gallstones are not regarded as food, therefore, they are not subject to Hong Kong’s food regulations. Given that they are a well-documented Chinese medicine, it is regulated by the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Cap.549) with the scientific name Calculus Bovis.
Best Collection of Ox Gallstones in Asia
Given below is a description of the simple manual gallstone collection procedure which requires no sophisticated equipment.
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