Traceability and third-party testing: Do you know what’s in your supplements?

What can you tell about an apple just by looking at it? Was it treated with harsh chemicals? Has it been washed? Was it grown near you or shipped in from overseas?

Unless you bought it directly from the grower at a farmers market, you really can’t be sure of anything. There is a lot more to a product’s story than what the eye can see. That’s even more true for nutritional supplements.

Sure, the label says those tablets, gel caps, powders or gummies contain various plant ingredients and vitamins. But we’ve also seen reports of food adulteration, food fraud and safety violations in the industry. How do we know we’re getting what the label says?

Increasingly the answer lies in a company’s commitment to meticulous supplement traceability and transparency and its willingness to submit to third-party supplement testing that verifies the safety and quality of its products.

Does the FDA regulate supplements?

Some people may think the government regulates dietary supplements, ensuring their safety like it does for medicine. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has a different oversight structure for supplements than it does for pharmaceuticals. Unlike drug products that must be proven safe and effective for their intended use before marketing, there are no provisions in the law for the FDA to “approve” dietary supplements for safety or effectiveness before they reach the consumer.

The FDA does set standards for Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMP, for supplement makers to serve as guidelines when it comes to ingredient purity and strength. But dietary supplement manufacturers do not have to get the agency’s approval before producing or selling these products.

This is another reason to search for trusted companies who have a long history of transparency when it comes to their ingredients and also use third-party vitamin testing or supplement testing to verify their products.

The importance of third-party supplement testing

Nutrilite™, the vitamins and supplement brand offered by Amway, has a long history of prioritizing traceability and transparency. It starts with a farm-level view of the botanicals used, which are grown on certified organic Nutrilite farms or partner farms. It then documents each and every step involved in growing, harvesting and processing the ingredients followed by manufacturing and distributing the products, ensuring each one is pure, safe and effective.

But the Nutrilite team isn’t asking consumers to take its word for it. In addition to its own rigorous testing and record keeping, Nutrilite partners with NSF, a global leader in independently testing and certifying dietary supplement ingredients, products and facilities as well as other products.

Nutrilite Nutrition Quality Engineer Hoa Trinh manages all nutrition product certifications with NSF. Currently 174 Nutrilite products have the NSF mark in the U.S., Canada and Taiwan. The mark signifies that they have undergone rigorous testing and met strict standards set by the organization.

“This certification demonstrates our company’s commitment to quality, safety and compliance with industry regulations and that the vitamins or supplements have been independently tested and verified to meet stringent standards for purity, potency and label accuracy,” Trinh said.

“It also empowers consumers to make informed choices, promoting confidence in the products they purchase and ultimately contributing to their health and wellbeing.”

NSF vitamin and supplement certification

What’s involved in NSF vitamin certification or supplement certification? An exhaustive process of multiple tests, audits and documentation, Trinh said.

• Testing: NSF performs comprehensive laboratory testing on each product to assess its purity, potency and composition. This involves analyzing product samples for contaminants, verifying ingredients are present in the stated amounts and confirming the label’s accuracy.
• Facility Inspections: NSF conducts annual on-site inspections of manufacturing facilities to assess their adherence to GMPs and other relevant regulations. This includes evaluating cleanliness, equipment maintenance and quality control procedures.
• Document Review: NSF reviews documentation related to a product’s formulation, any additional testing, the label claims and its certificate of analysis, or COA. (A COA confirms that the product meets the company’s standards for purity, safety and effectiveness and contains actual analysis results.) This is all done to ensure compliance with any applicable standards and regulations.

“Products that meet all requirements are awarded the NSF certification, and the NSF logo can be added to the product, indicating their compliance with industry standards and commitment to quality and safety,” Trinh said.

Nutrilite NSF-certified vitamins and supplements

As we said, 174 Nutrilite products are currently certified by NSF, although the number fluctuates as product offerings change. (NSF also certifies certain Amway Home products like eSpring™ and iCook™.) You can find them by searching for “NSF” on https://www.amway.com/en_US/search/?text=NSF. Or check the “Certifications” section listed under each product.

As a consumer, it is important to know where the ingredients in your supplements come from and know that an independent third party has verified that information. With that knowledge, you can make the best decisions and feel good about the products you buy for yourself and your family.