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How Does Now foods Test For Quality In Raw Materials? |
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How Does Now foods Test For Quality In Raw Materials?
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Darrell Miller | 10/26/11 |
Date:
October 26, 2011 10:44 AM
Author: Darrell Miller
(dm@vitanetonline.com)
Subject: How Does Now foods Test For Quality In Raw Materials?
- In the past, Now Foods has always focused very heavily on incoming testing of raw materials and process controls to ensure the safety of our products. Most other companies in the past have relied exclusively on vendor provided Certificates of Analysis, doing little or NO testing of the incoming ingredients themselves.
- The FDA GMPs were published June 25, 2007 and placed great emphasis on both incoming raw material testing, process controls and finished product testing. The compliance date for companies was as follows: June 25, 2008 for companies with <500 FTEs (Full Time Employees); June 25, 2009 for companies between <20 - <500 FTEs; June 25, 2010 for companies with <20 FTEs. Based on the number of FTEs, NOW Foods was required to be in full compliance with the GMPs on June 25, 2009.
Few if any companies were doing finished product testing before the GMPs were published. NOW Foods was testing many of finished products prior to the new Rule. Finished product testing presents some very unique challenges. The complex mixture of ingredients makes finished product testing for many multi-component products extremely difficult. NOW Foods has been working on developing these methods since 2007. Now Foods is way ahead of the game on the number of individual ingredients that can be analyzed in multi-component products. We have 6 method development scientists (including 2 Ph. D scientists) working on these issues and we are adding new methods weekly.
- NOW Foods is in full compliance with the FDA GMPs and in many areas exceed the requirements of the set forth by the FDA.
- FDA has inspected approximately 300 manufacturers and is finding that up to 70% of companies in the dietary supplement industry are not in compliance with major provisions of the GMPs. FDA has taken official action in approximately 30% of cases. NOW Foods was inspected by the FDA in 2009 and found to be in compliance.
- Now Foods does more raw material and finished product testing than most, if not all of the industry. We consistently reject materials and products that do not meet label claim. This is rare in much of the industry.
