Monday 6 June 2016

NSF International Expands Dietary Supplement Testing and Certification Programs in Europe

NSF International laboratory in Germany to support growing demand for independently tested nutritional supplements in Europe

ANN ARBOR, Mich. and RHEDA-WIEDENBRÜCK, Germany – NSF International, the global leader in dietary supplement product testing and certification, is now offering these services in Europe, through its German laboratory, NSF Erdman Analytics.
The program includes GMP auditing, dietary supplement ingredient testing, next-Generation DNA sequencing, and finished product certification. The program’s flagship NSF Certified for Sport® program also screens supplements on a lot-by-lot basis for over 200 athletic banned substances from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), USADA, NSF Annex B, and many professional sports lists.
The NSF Certified for Sport® program is adhered to by major North American professional sports organizations such as the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), National Hockey League (NHL), Professional Golf Association (PGA) and Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA), as well as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), all of whom seek help ensuring the supplements used by their athletes do not contain banned substances.
NSF International is the leading certifier of dietary supplements in the U.S. and globally, having developed the official American National Standard for dietary supplements (NSF/ANSI 173 – Dietary Supplements). More than 800 supplement products and ingredients are certified to the NSF/ANSI 173 dietary supplement standard.
NSF International operates a DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory in Germany and worldwide. It provides routine product monitoring and specialist requests through state-of-the-art laboratory equipment and skilled, continuously trained expert staff. Services at this laboratory continue to expand into sports nutrition and dietary supplement testing to meet increasingly specialized customer testing and accreditation needs across Europe.
As dietary supplements are produced from a complicated, global supply chain, manufacturers are testing their raw ingredients and certifying their finished product to ensure their safety and quality. NSF International also offers ingredient testing in China via its NSF Shanghai laboratory for companies sourcing ingredients from Asia.
European ingredient suppliers and manufacturers can save time and cost via the NSF International dietary supplement program, which includes NSF’s next-generation DNA sequence testing for dietary supplement ingredients and finished products.
The NSF International dietary supplement testing and certification program has three components: Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) registration, NSF dietary supplement certification and NSF Certified for Sport® certification.
Manufacturing facilities must pass twice annual audits to earn GMP registration before they can move on to earn NSF International’s dietary supplement certification. The dietary supplement certification process includes label claim, toxicology and contaminant reviews with ongoing monitoring to verify compliance through periodic auditing and testing.
The NSF Certified for Sport® Certification is the highest level of NSF certification for dietary supplements. In addition to the testing and auditing required for GMP and NSF dietary supplement certification, products are also tested on a lot-by-lot basis for over 200 athletic banned substances.
NSF Erdmann Analytics’ scientists have the expertise and instrumentation to evaluate the composition of dietary supplement ingredients including vitamins, minerals, herbs and botanicals, amino acids, sports supplements, concentrates, metabolites, constituents and extracts. The lab’s main testing services include qualitative or quantitative tests of functional components, nutrition labeling, and method development and testing for heavy metals, pesticide residues allergens, microbial contaminants and athletic banned substances.
The lab also provides next-generation DNA sequencing testing which can identify more than 10,000 species of botanicals, animals, fungi and bacteria in raw ingredients and finished products.
The official launch of the NSF International dietary supplement programs in Europe will take place May 10 – 12, 2016 at Vitafoods Europe in Geneva, Switzerland. Several NSF International experts will be available to discuss NSF International programs and will present at the conference:
  • Robert Pietrowski, Ph.D., Vice President of NSF Global Health Sciences, NSF International, will present:
    • Assuring the Safety of Dietary Supplements Through a Combination of State-of-the-Art Analytical Techniques and Robust Good Manufacturing Practices. His presentation will focus on the key role of GMPs in ensuring dietary supplement safety and quality, the importance of a well-designed quality control system and the value of DNA-based analytical techniques in confirming supplement ingredient safety.
    • Toxic Weeks and Fraudulent Filler: Target Specific DNA Sequencing (TSDSTM). This presentation will focus on NSF AuthenTechnologies’ Target Specific DNA Sequencing (TSDSTM) as the leading technology for detection and identification of species in almost any natural product – from raw meats and seafood to highly processed botanical supplements containing extracts.
  • David Trosin, Director of Business Development, Dietary Supplements, NSF International, will participate in the keynote panel discussion Raising the Bar: Driving Quality, Safety and Consumer Trust in Sports Nutrition. The conversation will focus on sport supplements and the next steps required to drive quality, safety and consumer trust within the industry.
  • Steve Taormina, Business Development Manager – Consumer Values Verified, NSF International, will present Non-GMO Standards and Labeling: A Global Overview to update European companies on wider regulatory changes in the food category. Taormina will discuss North America’s two voluntary non-GMO certification programs: Non-GMO Project and NSF True North Non-GMO. He will also provide an update on U.S. regulations and requirements for finished products and ingredients.
“More than 800 supplement products and ingredients are certified to the NSF/ANSI 173 dietary supplement standard and to NSF Certified for Sport®,” said Dr. Robert Pietrowski, Vice President of NSF Global Health Sciences, NSF International. “Retailers and consumers want to know they can trust the safety and quality of supplements and now with NSF International’s dietary supplement testing and certification capabilities at our German laboratory, supplement manufacturers with facilities in and around Europe can save time and cost while they provide safer and high quality dietary and sport supplements.”
Editor’s Note: Media seeking additional information or to arrange interviews with NSF International experts before, during or after Vitafoods Europe can contact Heather Taylor, Marketing Director, Health Sciences, NSF International at +32-478-262192 or Elizabeth Jones, VP, Marketing, Communications, Business Development, NSF International at +1 734-799-1600
About NSF International: NSF International is an independent global organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products for the health sciences, food, water and consumer goods industries to minimize adverse health effects and protect the environment (nsf.org). Founded in 1944, NSF is committed to protecting human health and safety worldwide. Operating in more than 165 countries, NSF International is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Food Safety, Water Quality and Indoor Environment.
NSF International developed the only American National Standard for dietary supplements (NSF/ANSI 173) and tests and certifies supplements to this standard.
About NSF International Laboratories: NSF has an established network of laboratories throughout North America, Latin America, Europe and China, with a professional staff of engineers, microbiologists, toxicologists, chemists, public health experts and certification specialists. NSF labs worldwide are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025. Our labs provide a wide range of testing, certification and technical services across all industries, including include dietary supplement and nutritional ingredient certification; food safety testing for retail food, growers, processors and seafood; soil testing; environmental impact studies for the energy and agrochemical sectors; and toxicity studies for agribusiness.

NSF International and its family of companies hold a variety of European accreditations including: United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) and Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle (DAkkS).

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