The organization yesterday said it had chosen Flora Research Laboratories as a member of its analytical laboratory group because of the lab’s expertise in a variety of analytical and testing services.
"The entire industry greatly benefits from better science supporting products on the market, and by bringing Flora Research Laboratories on board, UNPA can tap into a wealth of knowledge surrounding the most difficult aspects of product validation and testing," said Loren Israelsen, executive director of UNPA in a statement.
Self regulation
The efficacy of dietary supplements has been a sore point for the industry, which has been hard hit by the proliferation of bogus products.
As a result, the industry has repeatedly been accused of being unregulated, even after the introduction of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, which has been criticized as not succeeding in reigning in the irresponsibly marketed products.
However, the supplement industry's trade groups are at the forefront of efforts to try to clean up the field, and together with their self-regulation they also stand behind efforts by FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which regulates product marketing.
Testing
The regular testing of products remains a crucial means of ensuring consistent quality and efficacy.
UNPA, which was founded in 1991, was created with the aim of developing a new legislative model for the regulation of supplements.
The group, led by Israelsen, was instrumental in the passage of DSHEA in 1994, and has since been working together with other trade organizations to assure the proper implementation of the legislation, and to promote industry best practices.
The cooperation with Flora Research Laboratories, which specializes in quality control and research of natural products and dietary supplements, is one more step in that direction.
According to UNPA, Flora was chosen because of its expertise in testing services such as GMP compliance and FDA detention testing, reference standards and voucher specimen confirmation, marker compound analysis and method development and validation.
Flora’s lab director James Neal-Kababick said the group hopes to make “many contributions to advancing the science behind supplements” in collaboration with UNPA.
"Cooperative efforts allow the dietary supplement to grow and prosper and UNPA's proactive stance to dealing with issues that could significantly impact the industry as a whole represents the true essence of quality," he said.