Questions include how to prevent cross-contamination and how to comply with FDA’s gluten-free rules.
One path available to supplement makers seeking to manufacture and label gluten-free is that of third-party certification. The following certifications are available:
While Celiac Support Association’s Larry Brauer says that, currently, only about 2% of CSA’s seal-program applicants are nutritional supplements (instead of foods), and National Foundation for Celiac Awareness’s vice president Jennifer North says the NFCA’s Gluten-Free Certification Program focuses most of its outreach efforts on food manufacturers, gluten-free certification remains a viable option for supplement manufacturers.
One such manufacturer, New England-based Gluten Free Therapeutics (GFT), is, at the time of this post, in the process of obtaining CSA’s recognition seal. Leigh Reynolds, the company’s president, has a background in the heavily regulated pharmaceutical industry and says GFT chose CSA’s certification because of its especially stringent testing protocols. (GFT manufactures nutritional supplements specifically for the Celiac and gluten-sensitive populations.) Reynolds describes the certification-application process as “time-consuming but not difficult or onerous,” and she says much of it is based on a paper audit conducted by the company itself. GFT’s application submission will include the paper audit and related documentation from raw-ingredients suppliers, and a list of GFT’s products and product information-including high-risk (for gluten contamination) and low-risk ingredients.
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The Nutritional Outlook Podcast Episode 33: Keeping up with contract manufacturing
July 26th 2024Nutritional Outlook talks to Lauren Samot, commercial innovation leader, and Blayney McEneaney, sales executive at Vitaquest International, about trends within the contract manufacturing space, and the ways in which contract manufacturers like Vitaquest keep up with the market and differentiate themselves from the competition.