Raw materials are the basis of your products. No matter how effectively you manage your production and distribution procedures, if your raw material are subpar, your product might not be as useful or profitable as you had planned.
The composition, identity, purity, and potency standards must be established. To demonstrate that the material and the supplier’s Certificate of Analysis (CoA) conform with the standards, you must test for the specifications when they are established.
This article discusses the fundamental qualities you should search for when ordering materials. Go on reading!
How do you choose the ideal supplier for your business?
Make a list of the conditions which your supplier must follow to satisfy your demands. Here are some ideas to consider:
Ideal lead time after making a purchase, how long do you want to wait to get your items?
Minimum and maximum order quantities, your quantity restrictions for orders
Procedures for quality control, the steps done by the vendor to ensure product quality
Payment terms and conditions, the techniques and forms of payment you employ while making purchases
Return policies consideration, the conditions of product return for you or your customers
Communication standards, your ability to communicate with others across language barriers, and your supplier’s responsiveness.
Consider your options
If you know what sort of products you want to offer, you might want to go through a supplier list like Thetradebuzz.com to discover which suppliers can fulfill your needs. Use this time to evaluate possible suppliers using the following criteria:
Company assessment
It’s essential to make your buy from a reputable company that can provide the supplies consistently. Suppliers should be audited to ensure that they handle products hygienically and keep correct records.
Wholesalers who purchase components from foreign countries may use audit questionnaires to verify they have visited the production plant, even though on-site audits are recommended.
Because the dietary supplement industry contains natural ingredients whose availability may change, a second source is typically confirmed to allow for purchasing flexibility that meets predefined specifications.
Identity
One need is to provide proof that the drug used is the one specified. Identity tests range from organoleptic to highly technical tests like HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) or IR Spectroscopy.
Check to see if the plant component listed on the label has the same Latin name as the herb. If a company doesn’t have an internal lab, it should submit the samples to a credible outside lab for identification testing.
Purity
A substance’s purity shows that it is free of contaminants such as additional heavy metals or microbial contamination and is thus safe for ingestion. The test protocols can be modified to match a company’s equipment requirements. They are created by organizations like the USP or AOAC.
In microbial contamination testing, the total plate count, yeast and mold, Salmonella, E. coli, and coliforms are often detected. Heavy metals are typically used in testing for lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury.
Again, companies without internal laboratories should transfer the samples to an independent lab for examination.
Potency
Making ensuring a substance contains the proper amount of a component is crucial when making claims about it, such as when claiming choline from choline bitartrate or ginsenosides from ginseng, or when using a substance with a daily value (vitamin or mineral).
Compare the test method mentioned on the CoA to published test methods from a recognized body, such as the USP or AOAC, to confirm that it is the most suitable test. Some tests, like UV-Vis, may indicate higher levels compared to more specialist testing, like HPLC. Independent lab testing is an alternative in this situation.
Period
The date of expiry or re-certification must be stated in the CoA for the provider. The majority of materials don’t “spoil,” but many do lose their effectiveness after the expiration date.
For goods with lengthy distribution or shelf lifetimes, the threshold for guaranteeing that raw materials can sustain label claims up to the product’s expiry date is enhanced.
Whether you have raw material on hand that is going to expire, find out if you can recertify it from the source or a different lab.
Composition
Every product has unique requirements. Perhaps it’s a powder that needs a certain mesh size or very little moisture in all the ingredients. If the medication is a chewable tablet, the active components might need to be in forms with little or no taste.
The product could be advertised as gluten-free or organic. Specify the product and specific raw materials early in the design process to guarantee consistent sourcing. The buying team should record the specific needs in raw material files so they will know what to request if they need to find a new supplier.
