06.01.06
NIST Issues Quality Standards for Herbal Products
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, has issued the first suite of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) in a planned series of reference materials for botanical dietary supplements. Manufacturers can use these materials for quality control and research-ers can use them to ensure that their laboratory analyses of supplements are accurate. The new NIST reference materials were designed primarily for quality control of supplements containing ephedra. The new test materials remain valuable both to assure that new products are not adulterated with ephedra and because they also can be used to improve several other key measurements in other botanical supplements, including concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals. The new reference materials represent several different forms of ephedra and include powdered plant material (SRM 3240), a ground solid oral dosage form (SRM 3243) and a protein powder (SRM 3244). The mater-ials are certified for their concentrations of the ephedrine alkaloids and potentially toxic elements. SRM 3243 also provides certified values for synephrine (a compound in some of the “ephedra-free” weight loss products) and caffeine. SRM 3244 adds values for caffeine, theobromin, theophylline and nutrients including fat, protein, carbohydrate, individual fatty acids and amino acids, vitamins and nutritive elements.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD, has issued the first suite of Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) in a planned series of reference materials for botanical dietary supplements. Manufacturers can use these materials for quality control and research-ers can use them to ensure that their laboratory analyses of supplements are accurate. The new NIST reference materials were designed primarily for quality control of supplements containing ephedra. The new test materials remain valuable both to assure that new products are not adulterated with ephedra and because they also can be used to improve several other key measurements in other botanical supplements, including concentrations of potentially toxic heavy metals. The new reference materials represent several different forms of ephedra and include powdered plant material (SRM 3240), a ground solid oral dosage form (SRM 3243) and a protein powder (SRM 3244). The mater-ials are certified for their concentrations of the ephedrine alkaloids and potentially toxic elements. SRM 3243 also provides certified values for synephrine (a compound in some of the “ephedra-free” weight loss products) and caffeine. SRM 3244 adds values for caffeine, theobromin, theophylline and nutrients including fat, protein, carbohydrate, individual fatty acids and amino acids, vitamins and nutritive elements.