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AHPA adopts guidance policy on kratom and synthesized kratom alkaloids
March 31, 2025
The AHPA board has adopted a new guidance policy to clarify the distinction between products consisting of the botanical kratom and synthetic kratom alkaloids. This policy notes that some "kratom" products in the marketplace appear to consist primarily of 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), and lack other alkaloids commonly found in plant-derived kratom products. While 7-OH may be formed from mitragynine oxidation and can be found in very low levels in dried, processed kratom leaf, it is not present at sufficiently high concentrations to be produced in commercially viable form.
The new policy strongly discourages the marketing of any product intended for consumption by any route that consists of or contains synthesized 7-OH or other synthesized kratom alkaloids. This policy also strongly discourages labeling or marketing such products as “kratom." AHPA has since 1999 held a trade requirement on the disclosure of added constituents which, in relevant part, requires the separate identification of added constituents in bulk botanical raw materials or finished products.
