{"id":57,"date":"2026-04-11T15:53:04","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T15:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/57\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T15:53:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T15:53:04","slug":"netherlands-set-to-ban-ashwagandha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/57\/","title":{"rendered":"Netherlands Set to Ban Ashwagandha"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a meeting with industry, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (WVS) confirmed its intent to ban ashwagandha, a representative from Kerry Group told Food Safety Magazine.<\/p>\n<p>Ashwagandha Uses and Global Legal Status<\/p>\n<p>Ashwagandha is a widely used botanical that is often consumed in its powder form as a dietary supplement or used as a functional <a href=\"https:\/\/www.food-safety.com\/topics\/345-ingredients\" id=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">ingredient<\/a> in food and beverages. Often referred to as an \u201cadaptogen,\u201d is promoted for its purported stress-relieving benefits and as a women\u2019s health aid, potentially relieving menopause symptoms and osteopenia.<\/p>\n<p>Ashwagandha is legal in the U.S., UK, and many other countries around the world, with a notable exception being Denmark, which banned the botanical in 2023 due to its potential negative impacts on hormones and its ability to induce abortion when consumed during pregnancy.<\/p>\n<p>Now, the Netherlands is poised to follow suit with a forthcoming ashwagandha ban.<\/p>\n<p>Dutch Ban Sets \u2018Concerning Precedent\u2019 for Food and Ingredients Sector<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe weight of the scientific evidence and dozens of clinical trials clearly demonstrate the safety of ashwagandha,\u201d Kerry Group said. \u201cThe proposed ban overlooks the vast body of real-world scientific evidence showcasing its safety and numerous health benefits. It also sets a concerning precedent for the treatment of the wider food and ingredients sector.<\/p>\n<p>Kerry Group cited 15 clinical trials and various preclinical studies that it conducted on its own ashwagandha products, which \u201cidentified no adverse effects and no risk factors, including when tested at 19 times our standard dose.\u201d The company said it will be urging WVS to conduct a complete risk assessment.<\/p>\n<p>WVS has not responded to Food Safety Magazine\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p id=\"ask-fsm-ec\" style=\"clear: both; display: block; font-family: 'Open Sans','Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;&#10;          margin: 32px 0; padding: 20px 16px; text-align: center;&#10;          background: #fff; border: 1px solid #ddd; border-radius: 8px;\">\n<p>    Looking for quick answers on food safety topics?<br \/>Try Ask FSM, our new smart AI search tool.<\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.food-safety.com\/ask-fsm?pk=article_ask_fsm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>    Ask FSM \u2192<br \/>\n  <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a meeting with industry, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (WVS) confirmed its intent to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,6,21],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-netherlands","tag-functional-beverages","tag-netherlands","tag-supplements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/netherlands\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}