Nutrasource Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Services, a global contract research organization, launched a new certification program called NutraStrong. The new program classifies products with relevant and specific standards based on its product category. The standards set a baseline of quality and testing to ensure product quality.
 
It is designed to gatekeep against products which make misleading claims or have inaccurate or false certificates of authenticity (COAs), in order to prevent such products from sharing shelf space with premium brands.
 
“The NutraStrong program, which is a protected seal globally, is built on our success in certifying marine oils and non-GMO status. The program branches out to all product categories within the nutrition industry and is reserved for best-in-class brands and branded ingredient companies,”’ said William Rowe, Nutrasource president and CEO. “Many large brands are moving to adopt NutraStrong Certification and are in the process of becoming certified. These milestones will be announced late this year.”
 
The new certification program entails: per-lot reviews of verified lab COAs and lab verification on initiation; initial label overview and a regulatory compliance sign-off sheet; GMP or equivalent certification held on file and verified on program initiation; and other corporate values benchmarks, such as support for stewardship and other causes, certification programs, and charitable works.
 
Within the program are two targeted certifications: the NutraStrong Prebiotic Verified, which was created in conjunction with the Global Prebiotic Association; and the NutraStrong Collagen Verified.
 
“The NutraStrong program is an excellent tool to differentiate legitimate products from those that do not contain efficacious ingredients as well as provide needed transparency,” said Len Monheit, CEO, Industry Transparency Center and Executive Director, Global Prebiotic Association. “Our focus is on transparency and stewarding emerging categories, and this initiative offers the industry additional resources to assist in responsible growing developing categories like prebiotics and collagen.”
 
NutraStrong will also showcase brands’ corporate values and stewardship prominently on its company profile pages and product reports, in areas such as supplier selection, charitable works, community involvement, or other certification programs that are supported.