By Carson Colville
May 25, 2021
EUGENE, Ore. — “Ohh. Where do I start?” Lydia Fish, manager at Mountain Rose Herbs, said as she chuckled. Working at the shop, she has received a number of strange requests that she often cannot legally answer. Mountain Rose Herbs is tucked away near the 5th Place Market, just steps from downtown Eugene. The shop is stocked full of herbs, essential oils, spices, and teas. Working at Mountain Rose Herbs, Fish and her associates frequently encounter customers who are full of peculiar questions and in search of medical advice.
Lined with baskets full of herbs and adaptogenic roots and mushrooms on one side, and soaps and clays to craft DIY skincare products on the other, the shop attracts a wide variety of customers. Customers who frequent the store are typically in search of herbal and holistic remedies which makes education a pillar in Fish’s job description. New customers are often lost, as the store contains so many unfamiliar and unconventional products. Employees of Mountain Rose Herbs find it’s important to familiarize themselves with their customers’ needs and desires.
Fish explains that the majority of customers who have specific requests often tiptoe around their needs. These customers ask which products would be helpful to cure illnesses or prevent exposure to various environmental threats. While Fish and her associates cannot legally recommend herbs or essential oils in response, they can provide customers with products that are “known to be helpful,” said Fish.
Given the commonality of medical-related requests, Mountain Rose Herbs trains their employees to respond. It’s critical for them to react delicately, as customers often offer private details about their health and life. “We give a disclaimer that we can’t give any medical advice,” said Fish, then, “try to direct them towards an herb of something that is known to be supportive.” It’s important for employees to not entirely shut down a customer’s request, but instead politely suggest something that could have the medicinal properties they’re looking for. Fish said that they “use terms like ‘supportive, soothing, known to be helpful,’” and avoid suggesting that any product has the ability to cure or prevent an illness.
Offering medical advice to customers or suggesting that a product has certain medical properties is against FDA regulations and could create a plethora of problems for Mountain Rose Herbs. Employees of the shop are not allowed to “say anything that resembles medical advice,” said Fish. If they were to offer medical advice and a customer had a negative experience or reaction to a product as a result, Mountain Rose Herbs could be sued for damages. Instead, employees approach these interactions by “trying to find an herb that is known to support certain systems but from the perspective of general knowledge as opposed to this would work for you,” said Fish. While situations where customers are seeking medical advice happen frequently at Mountain Rose Herbs, it’s imperative that employees refrain from offering legitimate advice and remain sensitive.
Customers will often be in search of radical herbal remedies. Fish illustrated a particular incident, “This gentleman came in with Keen sandals and long hair,” she said. “This was at the peak of when 5G had just started to come out and he insisted on taking borax internally to fight radiation.” As per her job description and FDA regulations, she politely responded by saying she was unable to recommend that as a safe remedy.
Borax, a powdery white substance, is typically used in cosmetic or cleaning products and is generally considered to be unsafe to ingest. The shop suggests that customers might use Borax powder in a DIY bath salt blend and advise against any internal usage. Mountain Rose Herbs indicates a proper and suggested use on all of their products. The Borax packaging reads “Intended Use: Cosmetic use only.” This small, but very clear wording on the bottom of the crisp white packaging seems to have gone right over this customer’s head. Fish said that she was “startled” by such a request, and mentioned to the customer, once again, that she cannot recommend consuming Borax powder, or any other product to ward off radiation.
Although Fish advised against consuming Borax, this gentleman insisted on the benefits of using it internally, and purchased the Borax powder anyway. Fish remains perplexed by this experience, saying it was “incredibly strange, but not uncommon.” She said that she and her employees often deal with situations like these, where customers are persistent about using products incorrectly. While Mountain Rose Herbs cannot prevent customers from using their products how they wish, they strongly advise against improper use and reinforce that they cannot offer medical advice.
Many of the shop’s products are known to promote certain benefits, but employees must refrain from using terms like “cure” and “prevent.” FDA regulations prohibit Mountain Rose Herbs from using these terms, or offering anything that might come across as medical advice. Employees are trained extensively on how to respond in these situations, as it’s quite common for questions of the sort to be asked. “It’s something we deal with more often than you’d think,” said Fish. These encounters never cease to amaze Fish, despite her working with the company for many years.