Nature's Sunshine Quality Assurance

Manufacturing | Research & Development

At Nature's Sunshine, the commitment to quality is taken very seriously.

The attribute that sets Nature's Sunshine apart is attention to detail.  The Quality Assurance Department has rejected several lots of raw materials over the past years for reasons such as high ash (excessive dirt), the presence of E. coli or salmonella (bacterial contamination) or simply not meeting NSP's high-quality specifications.  NSP's suppliers tell them that other companies do not have their high standards.  In fact, raw material rejected by NSP may be sold to other herb companies.

Moreover, NSP clearly lists all ingredients used in their products on the label of each product -- in the order of amount.  Their herbal supplements contain no fillers.  Rather, they use naturally sourced ingredients such as plant fiber, silica, calcium and magnesium stearate when needed for tableting and filling capsules.

Quality has to be built in -- not inspected out.  NSP continually works to develop products that meet the highest safety and efficacy standards, and to establish standards and procedures that assure product consistency and integrity.  They apply the newest techniques and invest in modern equipment to test the raw materials and finished products.

Immediately after arriving at NSP's loading dock, each new shipment of raw materials is placed on a "hold status" in the computerized material requirements planning program.  This prevents any raw material from being used until it's approved and released by Quality Assurance (QA).  A composite sample representing the entire lot is tested by QA to ensure the raw material meets all quality specifications.  Every raw material has its own set of requirements and a specific series of tests.  The tests are divided into three basic types:  microbiological, physical and chemical.

Bacteriological contamination can be one of the greatest potential health hazards for today's consumer.  NSP's herbs are grown all over the world.  The company must be extremely careful to test for microbial contamination.

The microscope is one of the most useful tools used in the physical testing of herbs.  Each plant has specific types of cells that help to identify the plant.  QA prepares a slide of the herb powder, allowing a look at the plant at the cellular level.  This examination reveals whether the correct species was used, whether any contamination has occurred, and whether the correct parts of the plant were harvested.  Color, taste and odor vary depending on factors such as place of harvest and seasonal variation.  These variations are acceptable within a specified range and do not affect the active constituents of the herb.

Nature's Sunshine has been one of the forerunners in the herbal industry in chemically analyzing and quantitating the amount of active ingredients in its products.  Chemical testing helps NSP identify the material and determine potency, and look for active ingredients or chemical constituents.

A very important piece of equipment used is the high-performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC).  A mixture, such as a multi-vitamin, is placed in the auto-sampler.  As solvents are pumped through the column, the vitamins separate into their various components.  The detector quantifies the amount of each component that passes through it.  Purity of raw materials may also be examined by the HPLC.  Because of the detector's sensitivity, contaminants can be detected down to parts per billion.

But the HPLC is not only used to examine vitamins.  It quantifies other active constituents -- such as the amount of capsaicin in capsicum.  The HPLC also identifies fillers.  Lactose is an inexpensive milk product that absorbs the color and odor of whatever it is mixed with -- it could be used as filler.  NSP can detect such adulteration by using the HPLC.

Along with liquid chromatography, gas chromatography (GC) plays a vital role in ensuring the quality of numerous NSP products.  Products with volatile oils -- like peppermint -- are tested to ensure potency and quality.  The GC helps determine whether raw material is natural or synthetic.

One of the most exciting pieces of equipment in QA is a type of infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR).  Infrared light beams pass through an herb extraction.  Active ingredients show up as peaks on the IR spectra.  Each herb should have the same active ingredients from batch to batch, crop to crop.  NSP develops a chemical fingerprint of each herb.  Every time a new shipment comes in, QA looks not only at the cell structure for identification, but also at active ingredients.

The ICP in the mineral laboratory is capable of analyzing 40 different minerals.  It can detect parts per billion.  Samples tested on the ICP range from vitamin and mineral products to herbs.  It detects both toxic and beneficial materials.  For example, NSP tests more than 110 raw materials for lead. 

Quality Assurance does not end with the release of raw material into production.  NSP closely monitors all aspects of production, too.

QA checks for cleanliness of equipment by testing the microbial counts on surface areas.  Samples of blended products are tested using the same equipment and methods to ensure that correct amounts of raw materials were used and properly blended.  Each lot of tablets or capsules is tested for disintegration (the time it takes for the actual physical breakup).  If it won't dissolve in your body, the tablet or capsule won't do you much good.

Documentation and record keeping are equally important.  NSP keeps records that detail every lot of raw material that goes into a product.  It is possible to trace an individual raw material and determine every product it was used in.

Every product has a lot number.  If a consumer has a question about a product, NSP can check retention samples and review records.

At NSP, quality is not just a word - it's a commitment.  It is quality from start to finish.  Many hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent to make sure the products you receive represent the finest quality possible.

NSP's claims of high quality are no exaggeration.  NSP never takes shortcuts.  That's why so many people who try another brand end up coming back to Nature's Sunshine Products.