Flor-Essence Herbal Tea Review
Who Has the Formula?

Unlike the Original Essiac recipe, Flor-Essence uses what is called the Authentic Essiac formula, which uses 8 herbs rather than 4 herbs.

This product is a major brand owned by Flora Health, a manufacturer and distributor of natural health products. A commonly asked question is this: Where did Flora obtain their herbal formula? Was this formula been used by Rene Caisse?

The Origin

A search through the Flor-Essence website reveals very little. A short description can be found on their package:

For hundreds of years, Flor-Essence was a secret known only to the native North American Ojibwa tribe and described as the "holy drink which brings the body back into balance with the great spirit".

This knowledge was passed to the famous Canadian nurse, Rene Caisse, who researched, co-developed and perfected this formula with Dr. Charles Brusch ... at his clinic in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

The formula ... has been made available to people all over the world through their diligent research.

From this description, it is clear that Flor-Essence does not claim to get their formula directly from Rene Caisse. The paragraph implies the formula is somehow derived from Dr. Charles Brusch's laboratory. So, exactly what happened?

Elaine Alexander

According to some product distributors of and earlier product wordings, the person who brought the 8-herb formula to Flora Health was Elaine Alexander:

Elaine Alexander, the late Canadian health researcher and radio producer/broadcaster, collaborated exclusively with Flora to produce Flor-Essence. This purification tea was entrusted to Elaine by Dr. Charles Brusch, M.D., personal physician to the late President John F. Kennedy.

In 1984, eight years after Rene died, Dr. Brusch was interviewed by Elaine Alexander, who broadcasted out of Vancouver, Canada. The listener response was massive and seven 2-hour programmes were produced covering the herbal tea in every aspect.

They became friends. In 1988 they became legal partners and he passed to her a number of the herbal formulas on which he and Rene worked at his clinic.

The 8-herb formula was first out in the marketplace in July 1992.

Who Has Rene's Recipe?

Proponents of Flor-Essence claimed that Dr. Brusch knew the exact herbal ratios used by Rene Caisse and passed his knowledge to Elaine Alexander. Furthermore, because the 8-herb formula is larger and more developed, it is better than the Original Essiac, which contained only 4 herbs.

There are several flaws in this argument.

First, the Trust Agreement signed between Rene Caisse and Resperin Corporation explicitly required Rene to state that she had not revealed the herbal formula to anyone else. Read my Canada International review for further information.

Second, according to James Mackelvie Muir of grand-strand.com, Dr. Brusch himself admitted that he did not have the formula, and even ordered some from Resperin to cure his own cancer:

There exists a tape of a 1986 on-air interview Ms. Alexander had with Dr. Brusch. At one point she asked him directly if he had the formula and his answer was a definite "no". He was taking ESSIAC for his own purposes at that time and was obtaining his supplies from Resperin. He described his difficulties in getting the product through US Customs.

And finally, the reason Rene Caisse signed over the formula to Resperin was for them to continue her cancer research.

The Trust Agreement explicitly forbade her to give the formula to anyone else. So she had only one chance to entrust the herbal formula to one organization. Do you think she would give Resperin an inferior formula if she wanted Resperin to continue her legacy?

Click to read how to buy an Essiac Liquid.

New! Comments: Like This Story? Leave A Comment!