Dispatches from Vitafoods Europe 2013

IADSA chair spells out global GMP progress

By Shane STARLING

- Last updated on GMT

Quality control in the food supplements sector is an ongoing mission that remains top of the agenda at the group that most prominently represents both global and national players – IADSA - especially as new regions adopt GMP rules for the first time.

At Vitafoods Europe recently, IADSA (International Association of Dietary Supplements Associations) chairman Peter Zambetti sat down with us to explain his group’s latest initiatives and the broader role his primary employer, Capsugel, has to play in better cross-sector QC.

 “We are very excited to see the rest of the industry coming up to the standards that we have held for a decade…”​ Zambetti said of GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices).

“We make over 200bn capsules a year so we have to be perfect every time and our customers demand that and we are able to deliver on that.”

“I think the real competitors are pretty much there…if you go to places like China and India I think you have some issues around supply and I think people need to be very careful about testing products that are incoming because it used to be that capsules were really an excipient because more and more people need to pay attention to capsules…”

IADSA

Speaking to his role within IADSA, Zambetti said: “We issued a global GMP guide about two years ago which we provide to regulators and educators around the world so we help them to take a take a very succinct way to take a look at GMPs and try to put those into place. No matter which country they are in they can take a lot from this GMP guide and at least get a framework started.”

He said the association that counts 52 national supplements associations and 18 supplements firms as members, is in the process of creating a similar AER (adverse event reports) guide, “to share with regulators so they have a head start.”

Fish oil supplements

Brazil and South America

He cited examples of regulatory development in places such as Brazil where IADSA had worked closely with the Brazilian Food and Drug Administration (ANVISA), local trade groups and firms to refine a GMP infrastructure.

As an example of progress in that country he noted, “Now you can get a multivitamin in a supermarket whereas before it was only in pharmacies. We see shift right there of a positive effect.”

In his three years as chairman and ten years with IADSA, Zambetti said some issues had shifted geographically.

For instance he said while change had come to Brazil, others like Columbia were moving regulations toward pharma models.

“We hope that they look at Brazil and see the success that is bringing to the country in terms of increased business in the supplement market and again increased health of their population. So we hope other countries see that and shift to a more food supplement-type of regulation.”

ASEAN – committed to 2015 GMP harmonisation

He said progress was being made in Asia where an agreement had just been signed among the 10-strong ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) – by population, the world’s largest trading bloc.

“All the ministers of the 10 countries signed off to commit to 2015 harmonisation…we do expect that by the end of 2015 we will have a very good set of regulations…”

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