NSF Int'l Updates Dietary Supplement Standard - NSF 173

June 4, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS

The updated version of NSF/American National Standards Institute (ANSI) 173 - Dietary Supplements contains revisions to Section 8 GMP requirements that reference the new FDA requirements for both dietary supplement GMPs as well as the Adverse Event Reporting (AER) requirements that went into effect in December 2007.

NSF/ANSI 173 is used to evaluate and analyze dietary supplements to ensure they do not contain undeclared ingredients or unacceptable levels of contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals.

These changes will take effect June 25, 2008 for companies who employ more than 500 employees; companies with fewer than 500 employees will have additional time.

Businesses that employ fewer than 500 but 20 or more must be compliant by June 25, 2009 and businesses that employ fewer than 20 employees must be compliant by June 25, 2010.

Companies being audited for GMP compliance under NSF/ANSI Standard 173 are also expected to meet the compliance dates set forth by the FDA.

These updates will also be incorporated into NSF's Dietary Supplement Certification Program, which is based on NSF/ANSI 173.

Certification ensures that dietary supplements are produced in accordance with GMPs and are certified free of harmful contaminants, said NSF International.

NSF/ANSI 173 provides criteria and evaluation methods to ensure that dietary supplement products contain the identity and quantity of ingredients listed on product labels and that the products are free of any undeclared contaminants.

The standard also provides criteria to determine conformance to GMPs.

Source: NSF International.