Dietary Supplement Certification Program

In 1994 President Clinton signed into law the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The United States Pharmacopoeia and the National Formulary, or USP-NF, established guidelines for the manufacture of nutritional supplements. The legislation directed USP-NF to be the nation's official compendium for standards on the manufacture of dietary supplements.

Dietary Supplement Verification Program

The Dietary Supplement Verification Program, or DSVP, was launched by United States Pharmacopoeia in November 2001. The verification process evaluates and confirms the contents of dietary supplements, reports the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. DSVP does not address health claims made by the manufacturer. A supplement product that is compliant with DSVP standards will carry the DSVP certification mark on its container.

FDA's Role

The United States Food and Drug Administration, FDA, reports that there are no federal regulations establishing minimum dietary supplement standards. FDA regulations, however, require dietary supplement labels to state the words "dietary supplement" and include the name and place of the manufacturer, packer, distributor, a complete ingredient list and the net contents.

Requirements for Verification

Dietary supplement manufacturers must submit products for laboratory testing and ongoing monitoring. Routine audits of manufacturer's quality control and assurance systems and reviews of manufacturing data is included in the verification process, according to the society. When all standards have been met, the DSVP certification mark may be placed on a dietary supplement container.

NSF International

An independent non-profit, non-governmental agency dedicated to product and health safety, NSF International hosts dietary supplement certification programs for the industry. Types of dietary products verified by NSF include vitamins, minerals, herbs and botanicals, amino acids, sports supplements, concentrates, metabolites, constituents and extracts. When a product is verified as meeting quality standards, NSF issues the NSF certification mark for the product container.

Tainted Products

The FDA announced in December 2010 a renewed effort to prevent "spiked", or tainted, supplement products from entering the United States marketplace. Considered by the FDA as a significant public health problem, NSF reminded manufacturers to be vigilant of the entire ingredient supply chain as many foreign companies provide supplement ingredients. Routine NSF testing has confirmed the presence of steroids, erectile dysfunction drugs and stimulants in United States supplements.