We purchase the best raw materials from all over the world and use these here in our Bloomingdale, IL(*) facility to produce our products. With almost two thousand products only a small percentage of our items come from China and are subject to the same quality checks as any other country. (*:イリノイ州ブルーミングデール)
Most of our ingredients are grown and processed in the U.S. The most important considerations are that our ingredients are safe, meet specifications, and are not adulterated. Although today the focus is on specific ingredients from China, problems can arise even with U.S. produced ingredients. The issue is thus not the country of origin, but the safety, quality and integrity of the entire supply. Bad ingredients can and do come from anywhere. The only sure solution is to have a strict program in place to test ingredients before they are used in foods and supplements.
At NOW Foods we have in-house state-of-the-art chemical and microbiology testing facilities. We are on top of ingredient issues facing our industry and focus our testing on those issues in addition to the day-to-day product testing required by our GMP certification. Our testing is based on USP, AOAC, and other official or published methods. We audit our suppliers, which includes visiting facilities where ingredients are processed to examine the protocols for ensuring safety and quality. We are founding members of the Natural Products Association-China, a new organization that is in the process of setting up a testing facility in China, so that we can test and certify ingredients before they are shipped to the U.S.
We take our food supply chain seriously and have programs in place to anticipate and guard against ingredient problems. We have invested millions of dollars in equipment, capabilities and technical and professional expertise. We do our best to ensure you get the safest products possible.
Thank you for your inquiry, NOW Quality, Science, & Nutrition Group
American Health/Home Health products utilizes high quality raw materials which are sourced from all over the world including China. However, the products are manufactured in the United States. Please be assured that the health and safety of our customers is of great importance to us. Our dietary supplements are manufactured under strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs). Our Quality Control and Quality Assurance programs are internally and independently audited to ensure top quality products and that our performance measures are continually met. Our Quality Assurance professionals monitor manufacturing and packaging processes to ensure product integrity, purity and accuracy of contents. Our Quality Control laboratory employs degreed and qualified chemists who test our raw materials and finished products to ensure that they meet our stringent specifications for consistency and quality of product. We endeavor to conform to the United States Pharmacopeia/National Formulary (USP/NF) requirements, which are industry standard for purity and testing. If a USP/NF procedure does not exist for a product, other published referenced works are consulted, such as the European Pharmacopeia, etc. Our products are subject to rigorous testing before, during and after manufacture, including analysis by High Performance Liquid Chromatography, Gas Chromatographs, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Thin Layer Chromatography, Ultraviolet/ Spectrophotometry, wet analysis and Near Infrared Spectrophotometry.
Thank you for your question. We understand why you would be concerned. We share your concern regarding contaminated materials originating in China and their potential health risks for American's. The recent news stories have focused great attention on an area that VRP has been monitoring for many years. At VRP, we buy ingredients from sources located throughout the world. To manage this, VRP has developed strict quality guidelines to assure that the materials we make our valuable nutraceutical products from are the freshest, the most potent and are free from any contaminates, fillers or impurities. We have very strict policy guidelines governing who we will purchase from and in what manner these vendors will process and ship these ingredients.
All ingredients entering VRP's inventory must comply with our GMP procedures and pass laboratory testing that screen for microbial contaminations, heavy metals, pesticides, and other toxins. In addition, VRP utilizes an advanced pharmaceutical technology, the FT-NIR which uses near infrared light beamed through sample vials to detect minute variations in the physical and chemical compositions of the material. This test is very accurate and is performed on every ingredient material coming in to VRP before being released to inventory for production into out formulas. In this manner we insure that the material in the shipment is the material that we specified when we ordered; nothing more, nothing less.
We are thankful that over the past twenty-eight years that we at VRP have identified and qualified many honest suppliers throughout the world. These suppliers are our partners in bringing you the best quality nutritional supplements to be found. Rest assured that VRP is never asleep on this issue; we are constantly monitoring all materials, suppliers and our own processes to make sure we deliver to you the highest quality standard possible.
Please let us know if you have any further questions.
Thank you for your email and your interest in Rainbow Light.
Rainbow Light uses both domestic and imported ingredients throughout our product line. We have almost 90 products which include thousands of different ingredients imported from all over the world, including Thailand, Belgium, Germany, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Eastern Europe and China, as some herbs are only available from certain growing regions. Regardless of where it comes from the important issue here is that each individual ingredient is scrupulously screened for a wide range of quality parameters ranging from environmental and microbiological contamination to potency and texture. Most of the herbs are imported and purchased through U.S. based distributors with whom Rainbow Light has been doing business with since our inception, 27 years ago.
Due to the recent implication of melamine contamination of protein sources used in pet food, our customers have expressed concerns about ingredients imported from China. First on Melamine; melamine apparently can alter analytical tests for protein, kind of like "spiking" to get the tests to come back high in protein. Rest assured, we have stringent quality assurance processes in place to ensure the purity of the protein used in our products. The protein we use originates and is processed in Belgium, and melamine is a banned substance in that country. Melamine is now also banned in China as of 4/26/07.
To summarize, the FDA has tested both wheat gluten and rice protein imported from China. They have also began testing on corn gluten, corn meal, soy protein and rice bran only as a precaution although these ingredients have not been officially implicated. This does not mean that ANY food products (other than the hogs that were quarantined when found they were fed the tainted feed) for people have had melamine detected, but testing is underway as a precaution.
As far as Vitamin C, over 80% of vitamin C comes from China. This is a USP material and it is rigorously tested for purity, potency, safety and efficacy to meet USP standards. Experts have very little concern about potential for contamination. Remember nothing from corn has been implicated it is just being tested as a precaution. This is an ongoing investigation and Rainbow Light is closely monitoring all new information as it becomes available. As always, we are working closely with our manufacturer and suppliers on all materials to ensure the continued safety and unsurpassable purity of our products. We retain a multitude of documentation for each raw material and are required through the Bioterrorism Act to identify all imports. With the wide array of ingredients used across the line, this is an incredible amount of information to present in list format, therefore, we would be happy to provide Country of Origin if there is a specific ingredient of concern. Please do not hesitate to email us with anymore questions or concerns you may have. Thank you.
I understand your concerns. We manufacture our products in the United States at a GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) facilities, and we buy most of raw materials in the United States. However, the reality is that China is the biggest manufacturer of many materials use in our industry. I believe China is the only manufacturer of Ascorbic acid in the world. More and more European, American, and Japanese companies open their manufacturing facilities in China. So there is a big chance that some of our materials come from China. We have requested from all our vendors of raw materials to provide us with the country of origin. At this point we know that some materials are coming form China (Acetyl-L-Carnitine, N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine, for example). I can assure you that they all are pharmaceutical grade. In addition to our in-house quality control department, we use independent analytical laboratories to test raw materials. They are assayed for identity, purity and potency. Microbial and heavy metals analysis are also conducted on all applicable materials. We do everything to keep our products safe and effective.
Pet owners continue to worry about tainted food for dogs and cats http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070709/FEATURES10/70709071&template=printart >ラベルに対する条件が強化されても、大抵の場合、原材料まで絶対に国産、を選ぶの >は不可能だろう。 >例えば、栄養補助食品産業貿易会の栄養審査会によると、米国で >使用されているビタミンCの90%は中国から来ている。西洋においてはまだビタミンを >製造しているのは、オランダにある1社しかなくなってしまった。 > >結果としては、食料品の買い物をする、だとか、空腹な犬にエサをやる、だとかの簡 >単な事が安心感をもって行えた世界というものがもうとっくの昔に無くなってしまっ >たようだ。 > >ワシントンDC、タコマ・パーク地域にあるThe Big Bad >Woof社のジュリー・パエス氏 >は、同社のプレミアム・ナチュラルペットフードの販売がリコール以来、20%から30% >に伸びたと言う。 > >「顧客の人たちは、うちの店にドアから入り開口一番、'どのフードがうちの犬猫を >殺さないやつ?' と聞く。」と、パエス氏は言う。
We recently received your email regarding our Nature Made products. We appreciate your question concerning the quality standards of our supplements.
Besides selling vitamins, we're all consumers too, so we share the concern over the safety of ingredients that go into the supplements we take ourselves and give to our children. Our company, Pharmavite, does source ingredients from suppliers around the world, including Asia and the Americas. In terms of China, we do source some ingredients from China. For example, we are aware that some of our ascorbic acid for our vitamin C tablets does come from China. Please note, we personally visit and inspect all new suppliers and only partner with those that meet our best-in-class standards. Once approved, these facilities are regularly audited for quality assurance. We are proud to source ingredients only from highly respected suppliers.
After being received at our manufacturing facilities here in the United States where our products are made, raw materials are immediately quarantined, sampled and tagged for computer tracking throughout the manufacturing process. This process enables us to know at all times the exact origin of each ingredient, and ensures only safe and high-quality product is released.
Rigorous testing is performed throughout the manufacturing process to ensure products of the highest quality. Pharmavite's Quality Control laboratory, one of the most advanced in the country, performs more than 300 tests daily. All of our ingredients and our water supply are routinely tested for harmful contaminants before use.
In addition to our stringent internal safety and quality testing, we adhere to the FDA's proposed Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) and standards set by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). As an industry leader, Pharmavite has been a strong supporter and active participant in the initiative led by the Council for Responsible Nutrition, the industry's leading trade association, to develop and pass the GMPs, which will set manufacturing standards for dietary supplements. These proposed regulations borrow heavily from drug industry GMPs and will help build trust in the industry. The USP has set pharmaceutical and dietary supplement quality standards since 1820. More than 90 of our products carry the USP seal, which indicates they have passed the organization's rigorous dietary supplement verification program.
We hope you find this information and welcome any additional questions you may have. You may contact our Consumer Affairs Department at 1-800-276-2878 Monday through Friday from 7 am to 4 pm PT should you wish to speak with one of our representatives.
We thank you for contacting us and hope that you will continue to use and enjoy Nature Made products with complete confidence.
Sincerely,
「some of 」って、どんくらいなんでしょう? というか、日本で言われてるのと話が違うんですね これはどういう事か? @大塚資本の、日本向けのラインが別にあって、そちらはCFで作られている アメリカ向けは中国製アスコルビン酸(なので、CF宣言できない) AVCの原材料まで調べて欲しかった質問者の意図と日本の担当者の 意識との間に齟齬があった(従って何%かの中国入り) ・・・とかでは、不自然かなあ?と
Thank you for your inquiry regarding our Synergy Products. We do have a family who we have contracted to grow our Chinese Herbs, who live in China, who make the extract prepared in traditional fashion for our Pure Synergy. Dr. May has established this relationship with these growers years ago and the herbs are grown organically to meet our strict requirements. Every product regardless of its origin is placed in quarantine and sent off to a lab to be tested to make certain it meets our strict standards. If it does not it is returned to where it came from regardless of where that may be on the planet.
Comparing amounts of ascorbic acid to the whole food vitamin C in Pure Radiance C is a bit difficult because they are not really the same thing. Whole food vitamin C is much more than ascorbic acid, as this acid is always connected to a multitude of other compounds wherever it is found in food sources. The health benefits we associate with vitamin C come from not only ascorbic acid but from the synergistic interaction of numerous phytonutrients including bioflavinoids, polyphenols, catechins, anthocyanins, rutin, enzymes and tyrosinase. Studies have also shown that whole food vitamin C is also more bioavailable than isolated ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid can be very hard on your stomach, because it is acidic inside the body, unlike whole food vitamin C, which is alkalizing.
Concerning potency, again it is difficult to compare synthetic isolated ascorbic acid and the whole food nutrition in Pure Radiance C. In general, potency of any product depends on the quality of the ingredients and how carefully they are handled. Pure Radiance C offers high quality, 100% natural vitamin C made with wildcrafted and organic ingredients, bottled in amber glass to protect its nutrients.
I hope this information is helpful. Please be in touch if you have further questions about this or any other questions that we might answer for you.
Again, we appreciate your interest in Pure Radiance C!
Thank you for your interest in The Synergy Company products.
ConsumerLab.com was kind enough to give us a list of six brands that we should avoid and the reasons why. For a small fee, they'll give us the rest of the list. Hmmmm! Here is the short list that they released of the failed brands:
1. Nature's Plus Especially Yours Women's Multivitamin ... may not fully be absorbed. 2. AARP Maturity formula ... may not fully be absorbed. 3. Now Adam Superior Men's Multivitamin ... may not fully be absorbed. 4. Vitamin Shoppe Multivitamins Especially For Women ... contains 15.3 micrograms of lead per serving. 5. Hero Nutritionals Yummi Bears ... contains a high percentage of Vitamin A which can weaken bones and cause liver damage. 6. Eniva Vibe ... contains only 54% of claimed Vitamin A.
NOW responds to test results from consumer organization
2.01.07 Response to Testing on NOW multiple vitamin.
Recently, NOW’s ADAM men’s multiple vitamin was subjected to analytical testing by a well publicized for-profit company and rated as “not approved”. The reason given was that it failed to break apart properly, which is tested by product disintegration. NOW has a Quality Control (QC) department with a physical lab that actually does disintegration tests on our tablets. Every lot must pass the QC tests for disintegration, among other quality standards, before it is offered for sale. We are confident every lot meets all of our Good Manufacturing Practices safety and functional specifications. The organization which tested the disintegration of our ADAM product used a pharmaceutical standard for disintegration of supplements within 30 minutes for tablets and 45 minutes for capsules. There is no general industry agreement that this standard is applicable or useful for dietary supplements like Adam. Adam Multiple Vitamin has been tested by NOW QC to disintegrate within 20-40 minutes. Most vitamins are taken with food, which takes several hours for digestion, and therefore the absorption time is well within the real world situation. There is no safety issue.
The report also stated our product exceeded the upper limit for niacin, which can cause “ flushing “ or redness of skin color. NOW Adam contains only flush-free forms called niacinamide (nicotinamide) and inositol hexanicotinate niacinamide. These forms do not cause flushing making the upper limit for niacin irrelevant. We have since asked for and received some clarification of this information on the testing company’s website. NOW appreciates this cooperation in providing more accurate information to consumers.
NOW Adam Multiple vitamin should be rated as “Approved”. Adam has passed in house disintegration tests and does not cause a niacin flush.
If you have any further questions about NOW products and our quality standards, please contact the NOW Nutritionists at 888-669-3663 Ext. 5
For more information on disintegration testing and the upper limit for niacin, access the articles below.
Every lot of each NOW formula that is made into tablet form is tested for proper disintegration to ensure that you get the full benefit of the ingredients. NOW has a QC (Quality Control) department with a physical testing lab that does disintegration tests on tablets. Our trained technicians measure disintegration of the tablet samples using USP method < 2040 > on accurately calibrated equipment. This is the accepted industry method.
While the pharmacopeia disintegration test method is the accepted industry standard, its recommended times for disintegration are simply not appropriate or accepted for all dietary supplements. The pharmaceutical compendial standard for disintegration of vitamins and minerals is to allow no greater than 30 minutes for tablets and 45 minutes for capsules; which actually is counterintuitive, considering that capsules normally are believed to disintegrate more quickly than tablets. In fact, this difference is well-accepted by consumers.
Furthermore, many dietary supplements are formulated to contain natural ingredients other than vitamins and minerals, with natural physical characteristics that can vary. Since food often lingers in the stomach for an hour or two during digestion and most vitamins are designed to be taken with meals, the 30 minute recommended standard based on a drug model is unnecessary and unrealistic for many natural products. There is no sound reason to apply this model to formulas containing ingredients other than isolated vitamins and minerals.
NOW has a specific specification for disintegration of each tableted product, typically 45 minutes. Capsules are typically tested to disintegrate within a 40 minute window, but some capsule materials (hard 2-piece gelatin, gelatin softgels, cellulose or polysaccharide Vcaps) disintegrate within different timeframes that may be shorter. Of course, enteric coated and sustained release formulas will take longer to disintegrate, by design.
Advanced nutrient forms - such as coenzyme forms of vitamins or chelated minerals - may actually be degraded by excessive time in the acidic stomach. This may be a cause for concern if tablets disintegrate too quickly.
NOW Foods sets its own standards for disintegration times based on scientific and nutritional knowledge, manufacturing experience, product design and consumer acceptance. We are confident that every lot produced in our facility using independently audited Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) meets all of our critical specifications. The disintegration times of our tablets are set to be very slightly longer than competitive products. This is because we compact more nutrients into each tablet than other brands. Our goal is to give you greater value through nutrition.
During 2005 and 2006 all 20 Adam Multivitamin tablet lots manufactured by NOW Foods passed our validated disintegration testing and met specifications for release. Disintegration times for this particular formula ranged between 20-40 minutes, with a maximum of 45 minutes allowed. Testing by an independent lab has confirmed that samples from one lot of Adam tablets disintegrated within 40 minutes, meeting NOW’s own specification.
You can be assured that the highly skilled Quality Control Technicians at NOW Foods continually monitor our production of tablets and test every lot for proper disintegration within our specified timeframes. This competence ensures that the contents of our tablets will be available because the tablet will deliver the active ingredients to your stomach.
現在のFoodsの非常に熟練したQuality Control Techniciansが絶えずあらゆるロット単位で適切な崩壊のために私たちの指定された時間枠の中で私たちのタブレットとテストの生産をモニターするので、安心してください。 この能力は、タブレットが有効成分をあなたの胃に送るので私たちのタブレットのコンテンツが利用可能になるのを確実にします。