Questions and Answers about Our Supplements
We are constantly evaluating and adding new products. The process of qualifying a new product takes some time, but we have several new products in the pipeline for evaluation as we speak. If there is a product you would like to see manufactured to VitaQual standards, please contact us.
Products that do not meet our specifications may still meet someone else’s less stringent, requirements and be sold to the public.
The most common reason for product changes is that a manufacturing batch did not meet our specifications.
Our prices are always competitive. The extra expense of testing and quality control is shared by VitaQual and the manufacturer.
We start with manufacturers that have products our customers want and see if they are willing to have the product subjected to our rigorous testing by one of the national, accredited laboratories we use. If they agree, samples of the product identified by manufacturing batch number, we test every manufacturing batch since there can be changes between batches, are shipped to the lab(s) where they are analyzed and tested. Manufacturers may produce a special manufacturing batch that meets our specifications. If the product passes, we order the product in and list it on our website.
The testing limits are also important. VitaQual testing exceeds all known regulatory and advisory recommendations including USP, California proposition 65 for a pregnant woman, USDA and FDA food limits. And, we test for many contaminants that are not yet part of the regulatory testing requirements. The VitaQual PASSED seal is your guarantee that the product is safe and effective. We do the verification so that you don’t have to.
Many of the companies that have gotten into trouble for marketing supplements that were unsafe or did not contain what they claimed had “verified” the products with their own inside or a non-ISO accredited lab. It’s a conflict of interest for a company to test its own products. When faced with throwing away tens of thousands of dollars of product that were contaminated or not testing at all many companies just put them on the market.
Nutritional supplements are a critically important way for us to stay strong and healthy. Unfortunately, there are many products out there that don’t provide what’s on the label or have dangerous levels of adulterants and it is virtually impossible for consumers to know which are safe and which are not, at least until now.
Typical problems found in supplements include:
- Inaccurate label. The ingredients on the bottle are less than or different from what’s on the label
- Unsafe levels of pathogens such as yeast, molds and bacteria in the bottle
- Heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium
- Pesticide residues
There are many reliable references documenting this problem. You can google “dangerous supplements” and read some of the more than 16 million hits or have a look at this New York Times article: Why Dangerous Supplements Linger on Store Shelves
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates supplement safety with Current Good Manufacturing Processes. There is not, however, any requirement to test finished, packaged products for label accuracy, heavy metals, pesticides or microbials such as bacteria and molds. The result is that product quality and safety vary even with the same manufacturer and product as a result of differences in raw material quality and manufacturing.
At VitaQual we believe that what you put in your body should be exactly what is on the label and screened for toxins at the last stage of manufacturing i.e. in the sealed bottle since these materials can enter the product at any time up until it is sealed.
VitaQual has every manufacturing batch of every product tested by an ISO (International Standards Organization) accredited laboratory for:
- 25 different pathogens (bacteria, molds etc.)
- 145 different pesticides
- Heavy metals to the most stringent levels i.e. safe for a pregnant woman
- Label accuracy
Contaminated supplement products can result in many problems including poisoning, disease and birth defects.