Nutrasource Pharmaceutical and Nutraceutical Services (Guelph, ON, Canada), a global full-service contract research organization (CRO) has announced the launch of the NutraStrong Certification, a new global certification program.

The NutraStrong Certification is an industry spanning program that classifies products with relevant and specific standards for each product category. These standards set a baseline of quality and testing to ensure the market is providing customers with quality products. Designed to gatekeep against companies with misleading claims, inaccurate or false COAs, this program aims to prevent these products from being sold side by side with premium brands, according to the organization.

“The Nutrastrong program, which is a protected seal globally, is built on our success in certifying marine oils and non-GMO (genetically modified organism) 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 NutraStrong Certification Program is built on Four Pillars:

Testing Standards: Per lot review of verified lab COAs to ensure consistent compliance with industry standards as well as lab verification on initiation.

Manufacturing Quality: GMP (good manufacturing practice) or equivalent certification held on file and verified on program initiation

Label Compliance: Initial label overview and regulatory compliance sign off sheet

Corporate Values: Multiple avenues to showcase and highlight corporate stewardship/causes that are supported. This includes other certification programs and charitable works

Within the NutraStrong certification are two targeted verification programs specific to Prebiotics (NutraStrong Prebiotic Verified, created with the support of the Global Prebiotic Association) and Collagen (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 also seeks to take advantage of consumer trends to showcase the brands meeting industry standards by showcasing their corporate values/stewardship prominently on their company profile pages and product reports. These values can be showcased and explained such as supplier selection, charitable works, community involvements or any other certification programs that are supported to gain a competitive edge with their customers.

For more information, visit www.nutrastrong.ca.