Media Contact:
Anne Bell
(301) 998-6785
adb@usp.org
Rockville, MD, May 15, 2018 — USP’s Dietary Supplement Verification Program, which is designed to assure and distinguish quality in dietary supplements, has been named the “#1 Pharmacist Recommended Dietary Supplement Verification Program” by Pharmacy Times.
More than three-quarters of all Americans take some form of dietary supplements, according to industry estimates.1 Because dietary supplements are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as foods, not as drugs, third-party verification programs by organizations such as USP, are often relied on by pharmacists to ensure the quality of products they recommend.
Pharmacy Times, a leading resource for pharmacists, in partnership with USP, conducted a survey of pharmacists that found they recognized and recommended USP’s Verification Mark for dietary supplements more than other third-party verification programs. The survey found that, among community pharmacists:
- Nearly 70 percent are aware of the USP Verification Mark and would recommend products featuring the mark to their patients.
- Of those who recommend products based on verification marks, more than three times as many recommend products featuring the USP Verified Mark than products featuring other marks.
“USP created the Dietary Supplement Verification Program to provide consumers and healthcare practitioners confidence in choosing quality products, as well as to allow companies to distinguish their products in an increasingly competitive global market,” said Nurisha Rush, USP’s senior director strategic marketing and program operations - dietary supplements and herbal medicines. “This exciting recognition from Pharmacy Times helps show how USP’s program helps consumers who want to be assured that what’s on the label is in the bottle.”
USP’s rigorous program evaluates products, which are voluntarily submitted by manufacturers, using science-based standards for quality to assess purity, potency, performance, and consistency. Only products that meet USP’s stringent requirements are allowed to display the USP Verified Mark.
When pharmacists recommend a product with the USP Verified Mark, they can be confident the supplement:
- Contains the ingredients listed on the label, in the declared potency and amount
- Does not contain harmful levels of specified contaminants
- Will break down and release into the body within the specified amount of time
- Has been made using safe, sanitary and well-controlled manufacturing practices according to FDA requirements and USP guidelines
Dietary supplement manufacturers can learn more about participating in the Dietary Supplement Verification Program on its website. The site includes tools, services, good manufacturing resources and webinars. Consumers can learn more at Quality-supplements.org
About USP
USP is an independent non-profit organization that collaborates with the world’s top health and science experts to develop high-quality standards that set the bar for manufacturing and distributing safe and effective medicines, supplements and food around the globe. Two billion people world-wide have access to quality medicines, dietary supplements and food as a result of USP’s standards, advocacy and education.
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1 Council for Responsible Nutrition. CRN 2017 Annual Survey on Dietary Supplements Available from: https://www.crnusa.org/resources/crn-2017-annual-survey-dietary-supplements