New standards for botanical and dietary products

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New standards from NIST may provide 'all-natural' benefits

A new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) effort

to develop standard reference materials (SRMs) for a number of

popular botanical dietary supplements will provide tools that

manufacturers can use to improve quality control during production,

that researchers can use to ensure that their laboratory analyses of

test substances are accurate, and that the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) can use in monitoring marketed products and,

when appropriate, in enforcement actions. Ultimately, consumers

benefit because these efforts will ensure that marketed products

contain what they are supposed to contain.

NIST was asked to develop the standards by the National Institutes

of Health (NIH) Office of Dietary Supplements and the FDA, which are

providing partial funding for the project.

 

NIST will certify the concentrations of designated constituents in

botanical ingredients and finished product preparations. The

standards development program will begin with botanical sources of

ephedrine alkaloids and kava, two widely marketed ingredients in

dietary supplement products. Additional SRMs for nutriceuticals

(nutritional supplements designed for specific clinical purposes) to

be provided by NIST will be determined based on priorities provided

by the NIH and FDA.