Does GMP Compliance Mean A Quality Assurance Process Providing High Quality Supplements?

Sunday, December 27, 2009

By : Wanda McCormick

Fact… 45% of all supplements you buy are defective in some way. Will the GMP change that?

Until now there have been no laws requiring the label to accurately tell you what is actually in your bottle of vitamins or supplements. So the government has begun requiring certification programs that must be verified by an independent lab on all supplements and vitamins. The GMP or Good Manufacturing Practice certification will begin in 2009. This verifies quality control, cleanliness, checking the identity and potency of ingredients, and testing of the final products for potency, purity and authenticity.

There will be plant inspections to observe cleanliness. This was implemented due to truly filthy conditions observed in equipment used to process and bottle supplements. I saw a picture of one that was processing a powder with cob webs actually inside the machine’s duct work and powder everywhere, on the floor, handles and knobs. If the powder could get out so easily and spiders could get in, then what insects etc were actually in the powder?

Testing will be done on raw materials coming into the plant. This is due to so many instances of products coming from overseas that were not what they were supposed to be. In order to make more money the products were “cut” with other less expensive ingredients. In one instance China companies added Melamine to baby formula. Melamine is used to make the plastic place settings you see in department stores. 13,000 children were hospitalized after drinking the tainted baby formula. 22 companies were involved and the contaminated formula had been sold all over the world. Chinese parents were in a panic not knowing what was safe to feed their infants. Other examples of contaminants include heavy metals foune in 25% of products coming from both India and China. What makes this so dangerous is that manufacturers are buying “boat loads”, literally, of product and just putting them into capsules without any product testing. Whatever is in the imported powder goes right into your capsules.

Then there will also be testing of the final product for potency, purity, and authenticity. Potency just means that the amount listed on the label is actually the amount in the bottle. For example is there really 500 mg of Vitamin C in each pill? Many times the making of the finished product uses heat which destroys some of the potency, but the label lists the original potency of the raw product.

Let me give you an example, whey protein comes from milk. One way it is taken out of the milk keeps just about all the whey protein undamaged. Another way to remove whey involves heat which is a cheaper process. It keeps the cost down, but destroys some of the protein. Labels will now be required to reflect this difference in potency. Purity means that the final product contains no contaminants, like heavy metals, insect parts or melamine.

Authenticity means that the final product is what it says it is, that a bottle of calcium really is calcium. Until now 10% of what you buy on the shelf doesn’t even have the main, active, ingredient in it. Sometimes it is just a powder or pill that looks like the real thing. One of the articles I read talked about a companies problems with it’s product. It was not what it was supposed to be. It turned out the independent lab that was doing the testing for the manufacturer was using “visual testing” to tell if the product was pure or not. This entailed putting a special wavelength of light on the powder and if the product glowed then it was considered pure and authentic. What they didn’t take into consideration was that other powders also glow under that same light. While this was a cheaper test that helped to keep cost low, it did not do what it was supposed to do! While the more expensive chemical testing easily showed the product had been "cut" with something else and was not pure or authentic.

The upside to all this is obvious, that we will “really” get what we are paying for. It will provide the real health benefit it is supposed to and it won’t make us sick from contaminates. But there is a down side. Foreign suppliers will have to export the real thing or we won’t buy it. With all the super cheap products no longer available, the demand and the price for the real thing will go up. Also manufacturers will have to replace outdated equipment, set up quality controls and in-house testing or hire independent labs. Some will not be able to afford the updates and will go out of business. Even if the manufacturers are able to upgrade, they will still have to pass government testing in order to be certified and some will just not pass. Those manufacturers that do survive will see a higher demand for their products, which will generate more sales to offset the added costs, but most likely will still pass the increased cost along to us, making our supplements cost more.

The silver lining is that there are manufactures out there that already do all this and won’t be effected,and have always given us the best possible products. Now everyone will know who they are. Sometime in 2009 you will start to see symbols on the certified products testifying to their quality. Look for the GMP stamp of approval. You can see some of the symbols on my website at http://thebestproteinshakes.com/numbers-dont-tell-it-all/ and Dr Kones who helped me write this article has volunteered to answer any questions about nutrition you might have. His email address is on the same page as the Certification Symbols.

My site discusses Protein powders and how much they vary, so it is crucial to know what's in them. It's http://www.thebestproteinshakes.com/. Visit and let me help you compare the different types of protein powders. It shows how to read and understand the labels. Then it helps you sift through it all to find the best protein for you.