This study evaluated the information provided to potential clients by pharmacists and health-food retailers regarding the herbal medication Piper methysticum. Previous studies in which informants knew they were being evaluated by professionals have suggested that pharmacists’ and health-food retailers’ knowledge of the uses and risks of herbal remedies is often incomplete and/or erroneous. Suspecting that respondents might be even less cautious in the assertions they make to non-professionals when there was also a financial interest in making a sale, the authors undertook, by posing as inquisitive students and potential customers, to assess the accuracy of the information provided by retail staff. Questions concerned the applications, side-effects and associated risks of P. methysticum. Information was collected in a structured but conversational manner from personnel in 30 health-food stores and 28 pharmacies in order to compare the quality of product information provided in these two types of outlet. Trained interviewers asked five open-ended questions concerning P. methysticum at each site visited, recording the answers from memory immediately on leaving the premises. Pharmacists and health-food store employees suggested similar conditions that might be treated with P. methysticum (mostly sedative-related uses), but pharmacists made fewer claims for the benefits of P. methysticum and were more cautious with regard to assertions of safety. Pharmacists were more likely to claim that use of P. methysticum might result in undesirable side-effects, whereas health-food store employees were particularly likely to deny even the possibility of adverse effects. While no pharmacist suggested that P. methysticum is better than relevant prescription medications, the majority of health-food store employees asserted that P. methysticum is superior. Overall, the level of caution advised by both groups was inconsistent with available research data regarding the safety and efficacy of P. methysticum.