The International Alliance of Dietary/Food Supplement Associations (IADSA, Austin, TX ) has endorsed the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program, an international consortium of nonprofit organizations, analytical laboratories, industry members, professional scientists and others that advise industry, health professionals and researchers about the various challenges related to adulterated herb and botanical ingredients sold in commerce.
IADSA, an international organization of trade associations composed of suppliers and manufacturers of dietary supplements, gave notice of its support in an August letter from Simon Pettman, executive director, to Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) and general manager of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program. In the letter, Pettman said of the decision, “IADSA is constantly seeking ways in which to improve standards within the global industry and demonstrate that dietary supplements are a category of products that deserve the trust of decision-makers in government. We consider that your program will help us move forward on both these objectives and in time will provide real consumer benefits.”
According to its website, IADSA has 48 member associations, representing thousands of companies worldwide.
The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program is a coalition of three American nonprofit groups: ABC, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia (AHP), and the University of Mississippi’s National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), with more than 130 other American and international parties supporting and cooperating with the Program.
“The endorsement of our Program by IADSA signifies not only the global nature of the problem of adulteration in the botanical supply chain, but also represents the concerns of many responsible, forward-thinking members of the herb and dietary supplement industry in 33 countries regarding this significant problem, and their confidence in and cooperation with the educational work we are doing,” said Blumenthal. “IADSA¹s involvement constitutes a quantum leap in the Program’s level of activity.”
Peter Zambetti, chairman emeritus of IADSA and director of global business development at Capsugel, said IADSA supports this excellent program to bring safe and authenticated botanicals to consumers globally.
Stefan Gafner, PhD, ABCS’s chief science officer and technical director of the Botanical Adulterants Program, said IADSA’s endorsement of this Program is a significant development for us, and helps to ensure that we have the prospect of success on an international basis, connecting organizations pursuing similar aims. “We look forward to working with more botanical quality control experts from other organizations and scientists in the international arena,” said Gafner.
According to Michelle Stout, treasurer of IADSA and regulatory policy director at Amway, one of the world’s largest producers of dietary supplements, “authenticity of a botanical impacts its quality which directly impacts its efficacy and safety. The ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Program is an important initiative for building standards to ensure that the botanicals used in supplements are authentic and free from any deliberate or accidental adulteration.”
For more information, visit www.iadsa.org.
