Robert S. McCaleb
HRF Founder and President
Rob McCaleb is an internationally
recognized expert on
botanicals, natural foods and supplements. As a researcher,
consultant, writer
and educator he is a leading proponent of natural health
care with botanical
and nutritional products. McCaleb
is the
founder and president of the Herb Research Foundation in
Boulder, CO, a
research and education organization focusing on plants used
in foods, dietary
supplements, medicines and cosmetics.
He
also heads Natural Healthcare Inc., which helps companies
succeed in the
dynamic natural products marketplace, while helping the
natural products
industry to build more sustainable business and supply
chains and to ride the
wave of public support for corporate social and
environmental responsibility. For
over 30 years, Rob has provided advisory services for
natural products
development, labeling, marketing and promotion.
He was Research Director for Celestial
Seasonings; headed
the Technical Committee of the American Herbal Products
Association and the Herb
Trade Association; and was one of only two botanical
scientists on the
presidentially-appointed Commission on Dietary Supplement
Labels, which studied
global regulation of natural health products and made
recommendations to
Congress and the FDA for improving their regulation. He has
also served as an
advisor to the U.S. Congress, the Office of Technology
Assessment, the Office
of Dietary Supplements, the Office of Alternative Medicine,
the Institute of
Medicine and other federal and state agencies.
In the international development field,
McCaleb has worked
for over 30 years to assist micro, small and medium scale
enterprises in
achieving success in the natural products sector. His
international work since
1980 has involved development of natural product businesses
throughout Africa,
Asia, Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Russia.
Mr. McCaleb’s consulting firm, Natural
Healthcare Inc.,
works with companies to assist them in formulating, labeling
and marketing
natural and organic foods, especially tea products, dietary
supplements, and personal
care products. He
has aided in the
development and marketing of many of America's top dietary
supplements, as well
as food, drug and cosmetic products both in the natural
foods sector and the
mass market.
Educated in Cellular Biology and Botany
at the University of
Texas and University of Colorado, he was a PhD candidate in
Ethnobotany (ABD) at
Union Institute. He is author of The
Encyclopedia
of Popular Herbs, Best Herbs for Healing and editor of
the
Rodale Encyclopedia
of Herbs.
McCaleb worked in collaboration with New
Hope Natural Media
on the development of the Global Business Program, providing
training and tools
for small to medium enterprises in the natural products
sector.
CELESTIAL SEASONINGS:
- Developed
with QA manager all quality assurance programs for the
company in 1976
- Responsible
for product development of herbal teas, coffee
substitutes, ready to serve cold beverages, botanical
toiletries and cosmetics
- Developed
the company’s flavor profiling and analysis systems
- Unlike
black tea, coffee, wine and a few other products with
well-developed lexicons for the description of flavor
attributes, herbal products had no standardized
terminology. We developed the terminology and created a
flavor control system involving all key players in the
purchasing, formulation and manufacturing of company
products to assure consistency and consumer acceptance
of this range of products.
- Researched
benefits and safety of all ingredients
- Responsible
for international troubleshooting of ingredient quality
problems; and quality training and management programs for
suppliers
- Handled
communications with food and drug attorneys and with the
media
HERB RESEARCH FOUNDATION:
- Assembled
scientific literature files on thousands of botanicals
used in foods, drugs, cosmetics and other natural
botanical products (>300,000 articles)
- Source
of substantiation literature and assessments for most
major herbal dietary supplement products
- Major
educational resource for healthcare practitioners,
legislators, companies, the media and the public
- Produced
hundreds of articles, lectures, workshops and other
presentations on herbs
COMMISSION ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENT
LABELS:
- Researched
natural product regulation worldwide
- Contributed
expertise on the appropriate and legal promotion and
regulation of botanical dietary supplements and functional
foods
- Advised
Congress and the Administration on dietary supplement
regulation and labeling
NATURAL HEALTHCARE INC.
- Consults
with food, dietary supplement, body care and
pharmaceutical companies on formulation, labeling,
marketing and public education for natural products
- Capabilities
include product development, labeling, advertising and web
site review for scientific accuracy and regulatory
compliance
SUSTAINABLE NATURAL PRODUCTS:
- A
new enterprise that will help companies become more
“green” and help values-driven customers find
environmentally and socially conscious companies with
sustainable supply chains.
