With a history dating back 200 years, the USP has gained the trust of many pharmacists, on both sides of the drug store aisle. On the supplement side, the USP’s verification program includes 160+ products from 21 manufacturers—all of which have undergone rigorous testing and verification to carry that USP seal.
According to Dr. Britton, senior market development manager of the USP’s Dietary Supplement Verification Program, 82% of healthcare practitioners prefer recommending USP-verified products, while 77% of consumers are willing to pay more for this quality assurance.
“We surveyed in 2023 a group of healthcare practitioners and consumers to understand what their perception is of quality assurance marks in general and of the USP-verified mark,” Dr. Britton said. “What I think is so fascinating…in this survey, when we talked to consumers, we found that across all ages surveyed, 18 to above 55, healthcare practitioners are still the no. 1 source of information regarding what supplements they should be using.”
Dr. Britton also demystified common misconceptions, such as the belief that USP applies pharmaceutical standards to dietary supplements, which she noted is not the case. She emphasized that the program’s focus is on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliance, and that USP methods are not used for everything, as the market is rapidly evolving.
When it comes to working together as an industry to improve the quality of dietary supplements, Dr. Britton suggested that everyone take advantage of webinars, join trade associations, attend conferences and stay engaged on social media.
“Educational resource that I would like to mention is the free stuff or the low-cost stuff, like what you see on LinkedIn, like what you see published in some of the industry media, like NutraIngredients,” she said. “Posts from regulatory and scientific experts fill my feed on LinkedIn, and there are just so many learning opportunities there. So take advantage of these resources and infuse them into your day-to-day processes.”
To hear more on USP, its rich history and what they have in store, listen to the NutraCast.
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