Yunnan Baiyao Powder, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that many swear could stop their bleeding and ease their pain, always enjoyed the right to keep their healing ingredients a secret.

TCM med secrets exposed in US

As a State-protected TCM, the ingredients and formula of Yunnan Baiyao products are State secrets under Chinese law, and for decades, they were not disclosed publicly.

However, on November 27, some microblog users in China discovered that the ingredients of Yunnan Baiyao are easily available on the website of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

A search of the website turned up the ingredients of two products from the Yunnan Baiyao Group, Yunnan Baiyao Ding and Yunnan Baiyao Gao, found in two letters in 2002. The letters were addressed to Herbmax Inc, a US medicinal distributor that tried to sell the medicines as dietary supplements in the US.

In addition, the Global Times also found that the major ingredients of Yunnan Baiyao capsule and Yunnan Baiyao spray are available on Amazon.com.

The discovery has led to concerns about whether there is a double standard concerning the protection of TCM formulas at home and abroad.

Yunnan Baiyao first entered the market in 1902 in Southwestern China's Yunnan Province, and in 1956, the State Council classified Yunnan Baiyao's formula and production process as State secrets.

Top secret

Under the Law on Guarding State Secrets, the formula as well as the making of the Yunnan Baiyao were considered "top secret" and enjoyed the longest period of secrecy protection, according to National Business Daily (NBD). There are four levels of secrecy under the Law.

As a result, Yunnan Baiyao's exact ingredients are not printed on its packaging in China, and its production process was not disclosed even to workers in the factory.

The workers making the medicine are reportedly divided into 13 different groups so that they have no knowledge of the rest of the production process.

Some of the Yunnan Baiyao's products are sold in the US as diet supplements.