Multiple Third-Party Inspections Confirm NOW Quality
NOW®, the largest independent and family-owned manufacturer of natural products in the U.S. health food store channel, has expanded the company’s long list of third party quality and purity certifications. All NOW Solutions personal care products are UL® (Underwriters Laboratories) ISO 22716:2007 certified for production and quality control of cosmetic products made at both the Bloomingdale, Illinois and Sparks, Nevada facilities. ISO 22716 is an internationally recognized standard with requirements for the production, control, storage and shipment of cosmetic products to protect consumers by providing guidelines on how to deliver a safe end-product. Also new, NOW’s entire line of quality natural foods is UL® Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level II Certified. SQF certification assures buyers and customers that food has been produced, processed and handled according to the highest standards. SQF is recognized by retailers and foodservice providers around the world who require a rigorous, credible food safety management system. This enhances NOW’s existing high standards for food products, which are all non-GMO and many are kosher and allergen free as well.
In 2016 NOW was one of the first manufacturers to be certified by UL for the dietary supplement manufacturing process. This certification from an independent 3rd party adds another layer of verification demonstrating that NOW’s quality system meets and exceeds the FDA requirements for good manufacturing practices. The purpose of the UL® National Brand Certification Program (NBCP) is to assess the extent to which an organization conforms to the applicable regulations and/or standards regarding the products being manufactured. Each facility will undergo a surveillance audit annually prior to renewal.
Another new third party certification NOW has earned is Informed Sport/Informed Choice for NOW® Sports products. The Informed-Sport logo on a NOW® Sports product assures that each and every production run of that product has been tested for banned substances by LGC, the leading globally recognized assurance program for anti-doping in sports nutrition products. Informed-Choice is the retail version of Informed-Sport where testing is only performed at the retail level; NOW® Sports products are both Informed-Sport and Informed-Choice certified, so testing occurs at the manufacturing facility and randomly at the retail level.
Product-specific verifications include:
- NOW’s organic products and ingredients are certified organic by Quality Assurance International (QAI), one of the leading USDA accredited organic product certifying agencies in the country. NOW is a QAI-certified organic manufacturer, audited each year for compliance with the National Organic Program (NOP).
- Probiotic Strain Verified products are NOW® probiotic supplements in which the probiotic strains have been analyzed and their identity verified using the cutting-edge RiboPrinter® microbial characterization system.
- The NOW Pets line carries a seal from the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), which protects and enhances the integrity of the animal health products industry by promoting quality animal supplements.
- NOW Certified Gluten-Free products adhere to standards established by The Gluten-Free Certification Organization (GFCO), which require certified gluten-free products to be manufactured using only ingredients that contain 10 ppm (parts per million) or less of gluten.
- The Non-GMO Project Verified seal is assurance that the NOW® product bearing that seal has been verified as non-GMO by an independent, third-party organization. The Non-GMO Project works at every level of the supply chain to ensure viable non-GMO choices for consumers.
“NOW has a history of being proactive in third party quality certification programs,” said NOW CEO Jim Emme. “Although the FDA didn’t begin requiring current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) for the dietary supplement industry until 2006, NOW was one of the first manufacturers to obtain NPA cGMP certification when that program was established in 2000. Today, NOW has a range of third party verifications to confirm that our quality is as good as we say it is.”
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