Whom do you trust when it comes to food supplements manufacturers? How do you evaluate quality of food supplements? What even defines quality in nutritional supplement industry? What both consumers and business partners should be alerted to? Read more.
Dietary supplements can be beneficial to human health; however, their consumption can be risky if their quality and effectiveness are not checked. There are many of scientific and regulatory challenges that exist in research on the safety, quality and efficacy of dietary supplements. A question arises: how does one assess their characteristics and quality?
Who is responsible for monitoring the safety of products?
Food supplements are considered as foodstuffs. Responsibility for the safety of these products lies with the manufacturer, importer, supplier or distributor placing the supplement on the market.
The statutory regulation of production and marketing of nutritional supplements is much looser than the regulation of medicines, yet strict enough to ensure safety. Safety alone, however, does not equal quality, so make certain the products you are looking into are GMP, ISO and IFS certified.
Good manufacturing practice
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate requires that manufacturers take all necessary steps to ensure that the products are safe for consumers. It is required in pharmaceutical industry and only optional in food industry. Companies that decide to comply their business process with GMP requirements, go to great lengths to ensure certification.
GMP regulations enable companies to minimize or eliminate errors with record keeping, personnel qualifications, sanitation, cleanliness, equipment verification, process validation and complaint handling. Most importantly, GMP certificate ensures traceability and safety of selected raw materials at every step of the process.
International featured standard
The focus of all IFS standards is on enhancing transparency in the supply chain, while IFS Food Standard particularly is used for auditing food manufacturers. It combines the requirements of the HACCP system with the principles of good business and hygiene. This standard is especially important for private label manufacturers, as it contains many requirements related to the compliance with customer specifications. Its main goal is to ensure transparency throughout the entire supply chain, establish a common standard quality and to reduce costs and time for manufacturers and retailers.
ISO
ISO 9001 sets out the criteria for a quality management system, which can be used in any field of activity. This standard is based on a number of quality management principles including a strong customer focus and continual improvement. Using ISO 9001 helps ensure that customers get consistent, good-quality products and services, which in long term brings many business benefits.
Clinical studies and research behind effectiveness of products
Manufacturers and distributors of food supplements often step out of line with marketing, promising (sometimes miraculous) effects. Reliable information about quality of the products requires clinical studies and research. In order for food supplements to be able to prove their usefulness at all, they must be tested in clinical studies. Products with scientifically proven benefits are the way to go!
Read more about our clinical studies.