IADSA to Release Global GMP Guide

BRUSSELSThe Global Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice for Supplements" from the International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA) was settled last week and will be released next month. The guide to good manufacturing practices (GMPs) for food supplement manufacturers, approved at IADSAs Annual Meeting in California, aims to give guidelines for the promotion of best practice in the production of supplements, including manufacturing, quality control (QC), packaging, distribution and storage.

The guide covers quality management, premises and equipment, personnel and training, product and process development, manufacture, storage, transport and distribution. It also gives recommendations for the recovery or re-working of materials, documentation, self-inspections, sub-contracting operations, laboratory testing, complaints procedures, product recall and emergency procedures.

Supplements must comply with all relevant aspects of legislation in their country or countries of production and sale, in terms of composition, manufacture and control," said IADSA chairman Peter Zambetti. This guide has been developed for use by every supplement manufacturer, from the smallest independent business to the largest corporation, within the poorest country to the wealthiest. Considerable thought has been given to the terminology used throughout the guide, due to the contrasting legislative positioning of supplements in different parts of the world and the global variations in interpretation of specific words and phrases."

Sam Jennings, coordinator of IADSAs GMP Working Group, added, This is the culmination of many months of work and discussion over the past year by a number of leading experts in this field. We have had high level input from the ASEAN region, Europe, Japan and the United States. This is invaluable because manufacturers and distributors of supplements should not only comply with all relevant national legislation in their home country, but also that of any countries to which they export their products."