NSP Quality--When You Care, it Shows

"We' re Proud of What We Do"
by Darlyn Anderson

From Sunshine Horizons (the NSP Distributor Magazine), September 1999

The sign on the of Lynda Hammon's office reads, "Quality only happens when you care enough to do your best." Lynda is the director of Quality Assurance (QA) for Nature's Sunshine. And judging by NSP's unparalleled reputation for offering only supplements of the highest quality, it's easy to see how much we care.

It Takes a Team

A venerable team of trained, caring individuals makes up the NSP Quality Assurance department. Their combined experience and education exceeds 150 years. They do their jobs (ensuring that NSP products are of the highest quality possible) to make your job as an Herb Specialist (helping people and selling NSP products) as easy as possible.

"Our department's efforts should give all Herb Specialists more confidence in their ability to help people," Lynda said, adding that the QA team takes pride in paying attention to the smallest detail.

"If we see anything that doesn't meet Nature's Sunshine's high standards, it's not acceptable," Lynda said. She added that QA employees really feel a part of the Nature's Sunshine family. "That feeling carries over into how we do our work, in not overlooking the slightest detail." The result? Quality we all know and trust.

Don't Take Our Word for lt

In 1998 NSP's theme was "Quality to Change a Life." Throughout the year, we shared evidence of NSP's superior product quality with Sunshine Horizons readers based on the findings of our QA department.

Now we'd like to share a few of the other measuring sticks by which we are judged.

Did You Know?

• NSP adheres to and complies with the the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Good Laboratory Practices (GLP) set forth by the U.S. government. These guidelines, which are monitored by the Food and Drug Administration, set standards for the manufacturing and analysis of different products.
  
  

• In the United States, manufacturers must meet the standard for their particular product categories, i.e., pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, foods, etc. The FDA has proposed regulations for the health supplement industry that may go into effect next year. Though these standards have not yet been approved, NSP already complies with, and where possible, exceeds them.
  
  

• Several independent organizations audit NSP on a regular basis, testing product purity and quality. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia and the International Aloe Science Council are just two examples. The TGA is part of the Australian Department of Health and Family Services.
  
  

• NSP was audited by the TGA in May 1997 and found to be in compliance with its code for medicinal products. The TGA audits some supplement manufacturers as often as every other year. Because of NSP's excellent track record, the TGA only audits us every three years.
  
  

• The European community generally accepts the findings of the TGA. This means that European countries have enough confidence in the TGA's testing that they approve our products for sale.
  
  

• A number of NSP products are sent to Canada where each lot is analyzed by independent, third-party laboratories for for potency, purity, and label claims. The Canadian government classifies many of our products as drugs. Consequently, we must comply with its pharmaceutical regulations, which are more stringent, in order to sell our products in Canada. NSP products have been approved for sale in Canada for approximately 15 years.
  
  

• In order to register NSP products for sale in other countries like Norway, Japan, and Korea, governments in those countries appoint organizations that rigorously inspect and test our products. We must meet their standards in order to sell our products there. NSP sells products in 42 countries, more than many other supplement manufacturers.

Capacity for Quality

NSP recently acquired an Inductively Coupled Plasma instrument combined with a Mass Spectrometer (ICP/MS). When we use ICP in conjunction with the Mass Spectrometer, we increase our ability to detect heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, etc.) in raw material. The ICP/MS is so sensitive that it can detect elements at the parts-per-trillion level. By increasing our ability to detect this type of contamination, we can guarantee even higher quality.

Another new piece of equipment in the QA lab is a state-of-the-art "digestion" oven. Using carefully controlled pressure and temperature, this oven releases elements of a substance into a solution so they can be analyzed. Every herb or mineral sample tested using the ICP/MS needs to be "digested" or converted into a liquid state beforehand, so the digestion oven stays quite busy.

One NSP Manager recently told us that she had called manufacturers asking about their quality testing. Many companies didn't return her calls, even after several weeks. Others told her they could not divulge information on their quality control.

NSP, on the other hand hand, called her right back and answered her questions. QA also sent her a booklet that outlines many of our tests.

"We're proud of what we do, and we're happy to discuss our facilities and procedures with people," Lynda said. "We see ourselves as part of a company that cares about quality in all that it does. QA is responsible for one small aspect, but quality is evident throughout the entire process. It's a mentality of the whole company."

If you forget that, just look at Lynda's door.