Understanding Quality Seals

Understanding Quality Seals

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) are not necessarily an indication of the quality of ingredients nor that a product meets label claims. However, an increasing number of programs in the natural products industry do review quality of ingredients, testing methods or finished products. There are differences among the programs and what they review, which are detailed below.

AOAC International
AOAC was founded almost 120 years ago, as an independent scientific organization that looked to verify and standardize testing methods for a variety of products. Today, AOAC has collaborated with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and every major industry association to form a task group on dietary supplements. The goal is to develop validated testing methods for a range of dietary ingredients. Methods validation takes approximately a year. Once a method is validated, it is published in the Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC International. Title 21 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations states that it is FDA policy to use these AOAC official methods of analysis in its own testing.

ConsumerLab.com
Founded in 1999, the privately held, for-profit organization purchases products at the store level and has them independently tested for various criteria. Its revenue comes from publication of its testing results, licensing its logo or results to companies that pass its testing, and companies paying to ensure they are included in a particular product category test.

NSF International
This independent, not-for-profit organization has been in operation for more than 55 years This year, it rolled out a Dietary Supplements Certification Program, which is an independent, third party product evaluation service that verifies ingredients against product labels, tests for contaminants and audits against GMP principles. NSF is using the NNFA GMPs as the basis for its audits, and is testing using validated methods for identity, consistency and purity. It is not testing for efficacy of ingredients, and it will incorporate language into consumer marketing materials to emphasize that point to consumers. Once a company is NSF Certified, it can use the NSF Mark on product labels, and theproducts will be listed on the company's Web site with freeaccess for consumers.

U.S. Pharmacopoeia (USP)
USP is also a not-for-profit group, and has a long history inthe pharmaceutical field. Its GMPs are based off pharmaceutical GMPs. It also does quality testing to assess ingredient identity, verify label content claims, and look for contaminants. As with the other programs,it does not test for, nor does its seal stand for, efficacy orapproval of structure/function claims. Prior to issuing its USP certification mark, companies must pass both the GMP portionand product testing portion of the program. According to USP,the goal of the mark is to convey products with quality-provenproduct ingredients.