NPA Program to Verify Purity of Chinese Ingredients

WASHINGTON—The Natural Products Association (NPA) announced a new program for testing Chinese raw materials for purity and composition, supporting industry efforts to maintain product quality and reliability in the increasingly competitive global ingredient marketplace. In its Shanghai laboratory, the U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP) will be testing raw ingredients used in the most common dietary supplements, which NPA noted will reduce transit times and costs, increase traceability and documentation of ingredients, and supply a systematic approach to verification. NPA member companies and subscribers can receive test results, and the association will also build a database on raw material suppliers, which will be made available to U.S. manufacturers to inform contracting and supply-chain decisions.

“This program is an innovative response to a growing challenge in the global food supply chain—how to make sure what reaches the shelf is safe, high-quality, and what it claims to be,” said David Seckman, executive director and CEO, NPA (www.NaturalProductsAssoc.org). “By testing raw materials in China, we’re adding another layer of consumer protection to a process that has delivered good health products to Americans for generations. The combination of the new federal GMPs and the testing program will greatly strengthen quality assurance and consumer confidence.”