Sabinsa adds three manufacturing sites to USP GMP verification program

22-May-2019 - Last updated on 22-May-2019 at 15:41 GMT

Turmeric root powder is processed into pellets that are fed into a continuous bed extractor at Sabinsa's Dobaspet facility near Bengaluru, India. NutraIngredients-USA photo.

Three additional manufacturing sites in India now have third party GMP verification, according to ingredient supplier Sabinsa.

The company, which has offices is Bengaluru, India and in New Jersey, announced that manufacturing sites in Kunigal and Dobaspet, both industrial districts near the city, have been audited by the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and have received GMP compliance certificates.

In addition, Sabinsa’s facility in Hyderabad, the capital city of Telangana State, has also received the certification. Another of the company's extraction facilities in Nelamangala, another Bengaluru district, was certified earlier this year.

Sabinsa offers a wide variety of botanical extracts, food ingredients, specialty chemicals and pharmaceutical ingredients. Sabinsa also has contract manufacturing capabilities, including a facility located in Utah.

The company is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of curcumin ingredients, and is vertically integrated in that supply chain and in a number of others. It has relationships with thousands of farmers in India and elsewhere to grow the plant.

Adding to supply chain certainty

The new certifications will bring additional supply chain certainty in an era with increased scrutiny on this part of dietary supplement manufacture. The new Food Safety Modernization Act in the US includes a Foreign Supplier Verification component, which places additional emphasis on making sure materials are safe and correctly manufactured at their point of origin, rather than relying solely on the results of tests once they have been received in the US.

“We’re pleased to have this assurance from USP reaffirm that our manufacturing facilities comply with US cGMP requirements,” said Sabinsa founder Dr. Muhammed Majeed. “While we welcome and encourage customers to tour our facilities, USP audits can be reassuring for those not able to do so in person.”

“USP is pleased to recognize Sabinsa’s successful completion of the USP Quality Systems GMP Audit Program for this facility,” said John Atwater, Senior Director of USP Verification Services. “This demonstrates Sabinsa’s commitment to quality and to operating GMP quality systems for the manufacture of dietary ingredients in compliance with officially recognized requirements.”

The Kunigal and Hyderabad units are equipped to handle batch extractions, whereas the Dobaspet unit is a unique facility with continuous extractors that can extract more than 40 tons of herbal raw material a day. The plant has scale and size to continuously extract oleoresin from herbal raw material.