Quality Control
Raw materials used in Mountain Naturals® of Vermont products are of the highest quality and are evaluated for purity and potency prior to approval for use in our formulations. Our Research and Quality Control Departments are responsible for stringent quality control. Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP) are followed at all times to guarantee that our exacting standards are met.
According to FDA regulations, nutritional supplements are to be produced at 100% of label claim. Our products are produced at 100 to 105% of the label claim based on Good Manufacturing Procedures (GMP). This involves careful analysis of every raw material that goes into a product and accurately mixing these ingredients so that each formula contains the correct levels of nutrients.
FoodScience Corp, the parent company of Mountain Naturals® of Vermont, holds a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification from the Natural Products Association (NPA). The NPA GMP Certification Program is designed to verify compliance of member suppliers of dietary supplements with a standardized set of good manufacturing practices (GMPs) developed by NPA.
This program is based upon third party inspections of member suppliers and comprehensive audits of their GMP programs in the areas of Personnel, Plant and Grounds, Sanitation, Equipment, Quality Operations, Production and Process Controls, Warehouse, Distribution, and Post-Distribution Practices. This program ensures that all elements of the manufacturing process are reviewed to provide reasonable assurance that procedures are sufficiently controlled so that products meet their purported quality.
Complete and accurate batch records are maintained so that any component can be checked, if needed, to confirm the product quality and potency. We continually do random testing on all of our products and raw materials to confirm that our certificates of analysis for raw materials are accurate and conform to GMP standards, if established for that nutrient, as outlined below.
Pharmaceutical Grade:
There is no final authority that deems if a raw material is pharmaceutical grade. What is probably meant when competitors say that their products are pharmaceutical grade is that the nutrient or component used in a product has been analytically tested according to one of 4 officially recognized methods and standards reference books.
They Are:
1. United States Pharmacopoeia (USP)/NF.
2. Food Chemical Codex (FCC).
3. Association of Official Analytical Chemists International (AOACI).
4. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
These books provide monographs, which describe ingredient definitions and minimum analytical testing results that a nutrient should meet with regard to identity, composition and purity. The USP/NF covers standards for both drugs and nutriceuticals and is the most widely accepted standard by the drug and dietary supplement industry. Not every nutrient or ingredient (that is available in supplements) has an official method for standardization. Therefore, if none has been developed then it is not listed in these reference books.
The vast majority of the nutrients in our formulas are produced according to standards listed in the above reference books. These standard reference books continually add information on the newer nutrients when a method for standardization has been developed and accepted by the industry.
Ph.D. Biochemist and Nutritionist:
In addition to the services provided by your Account Representative, Mountain Naturals of Vermont offers the full-time services of a Ph.D. Nutritional Biochemist with over 20 years of experience in product development.
