New Delhi, Nov. 8 -- The Centre plans to conduct a study to assess the microbial load in herbal materials used in traditional medicines, amid rising safety concerns clouding India's $70-billion herbal medicine market, said two government officials.

The study, set to be commissioned soon and completed four months after that, will aim to identify bacterial and fungal contamination in widely used herbs and establish microbial limits and testing standards to make herbal products safer, they added.

The plan follows the findings of an August 2025 study by the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) National Institute of Nutrition, revealing that 63.6% of 110 solid herbal formulation samples exceeded aerobic bacterial limits.

The study de...