NOW Foods is a leader in producing quality products at affordable prices. NOW Foods is an industry leader because of efforts to assure quality science, testing, ingredient disclosure and honest labeling of our products. Our catalog of products (dietary supplements, natural and organic food, personal care, aromatherapy oils, etc.) is constantly growing. Our manufacturing facility is independently audited and certified by Quality Assurance International (QAI) to properly handle and manufacture organic products.

 

In 2005, the USDA National Organic Program’s final provisions for organic products restricted the use of mined fertilizers - such as Chilean nitrate - for growing and cultivating Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), a green foods micro-algae. NOW purchases the bulk powder from a well-documented, reputable manufacturer in the USA. But, for various reasons, our growers were unable to modify their spirulina growing processes to adapt to the new organic regulations and decided to drop the USDA-Certified Organic label claim and supply the same high-quality material, now called “Natural” Spirulina. In order to continue to meet the needs of our customers, NOW searched for another grower to produce verifiably high quality organic spirulina for us. Late in 2005 we found two sources. They supplied me with information and samples of their organic spirulina.

 

For seven years, my job at NOW Foods has been to do the required in-depth research, order the testing and collect all documents necessary to assure the purity and quality of our products, with a special emphasis on qualifying new ingredients. I carefully tailored my questions and inquiries to get the reports, documents and statements required from each of these two suppliers in order to verify their claims. After 3 months of hard work I was able to qualify the manufacturer from India as our new supplier of the ORGANIC Spirulina. Our consumers can be assured that NOW did not go after the cheaper of the two, but rather the BETTER of the two products.

 

Organic Spirulina will be reintroduced in mid-2006 and will be equal or superior in quality and certifications (GMPs) to any other spirulina on the market.  The manufacturer (Parry Nutraceutical) ONLY produces certified ORGANIC products. This is a PURE ORGANIC manufacturer! Our new organic Spirulina is Certified under the US Pharmacopoeia Ingredient Verification program, has a HACCP- Food Safety Standards Certification by BVQI, is certified Kosher and Halal by BVQI, and has ISO 9001 (quality certification) & ISO 14001 (certified compliance with environmental practices, the only spirulina production facility to have earned this certification) quality certifications by BVQI. IMO has independently certified this spirulina as Organic as per USDA/NOP-Final Regulations, and Naturland has certified the product as vegetarian (to the ‘vegan’ standard). 

 

Parry has 20 years experience in growing algae products and also produces natural beta-carotene and astaxanthin. They evolved from a family-owned, indigenous business.

 

This Certified Organic Spirulina is grown in India at some distance from agriculture, industry or human settlements on 130 acres of land with clean water. The product is food grade, not animal tested and grown without animal-derived fertilizers. It is shipped in nitrogen-flushed containers to preserve freshness.

 

Testing for Microcystin and other Algal Toxins produces negative results (none present), as does the test for the toxin BMAA. Third party testing for PAH, BaP, pesticides and herbicides is also negative. The product is not irradiated and plate counts indicate it is as safe as the ‘natural’ spirulina. Samples were also tested by the NOW micro lab, and our scientists also found the Organic Spirulina to be safe.

 

Lab reports confirm that heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury) are absent or below detectable limits.

 

Organic spirulina is non-GMO and spray dried without carriers or processing aids. NOW® Organic Spirulina has excellent nutrient levels of carotenoids and xanthophylls, chlorophyll (with low levels of pheophorbides, high levels of which would indicate poor processing methods), protein, GLA, and mineral nutrients.

 

The real difficulty in producing Certified Organic Spirulina is in finding an appropriate fertilizer that provides nitrogen. American companies use Chilean nitrate, a mined source that is non-renewable and could present problems in agriculture related to ground water runoff (not a real problem for spirulina ponds). For largely these reasons Chilean nitrate was recently dropped from the approved list of substances allowed in USDA-certified organic products. Our organic grower, Parry Nutraceutical, has developed a proprietary, certified all-vegetable source of nitrogen that does not use yeasts, soy, microorganisms, glutamate or growth enhancers, allowing NOW to offer this fully-tested, fully certified, world-class Organic Spirulina.

 

NOW® Organic Spirulina is produced without the use of these common allergens:

 

- cereal grains or gluten (corn, wheat, wheat derivatives, gluten, etc.)

- seeds (sesame, etc.)

- legumes

- nuts

- yeast or yeast derivatives

- animal products (meat, dairy, eggs)

 

Meanwhile, the producers of Natural Spirulina continue to offer their fine product, which is unchanged from what was allowed to be called Certified Organic under the previous organic standards. NOW will continue to offer Natural Spirulina to meet our customers’ demand. We will also offer Certified Organic Spirulina products, starting with the pure powder in 1 pound packages. You can be assured that NOW’s spirulina products are among the finest in the world, which we have completely documented as meeting all of our quality control specifications.