Drug Firms Model Ensuring Import Safety; China’s Inconsistencies Worry FDA
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Firms using Chinese imports to make dietary supplements and other products can look to drug firms for lessons on ensuring the safety of raw materials from China, where adherence to food and drug production regulations remains inconsistent, current and former FDA executives tell a Senate panel
You may also be interested in...
NPA China ingredient program
The Natural Products Association launches the first industry-driven program designed to test the purity and composition of Chinese raw ingredients, the group announces July 21. Testing of raw materials by the U.S. Pharmacopeia's Shanghai, China laboratory "represents a significant departure from the current process where U.S. companies must rely on a test by Chinese laboratories or test samples themselves in the United States," NPA says. Benefits to this system include "reduced transit times and costs; greater traceability and documentation of ingredients used in the supply chain; use of state-of-the-art technology in testing; and a systematic approach to verification," NPA states. The association opened a branch office in China last July and began developing the program shortly after, preceding the spate of problems linked to contaminated food products shipped from China, NPA says (1"The Tan Sheet" July 24, 2006, p. 3 and 2"The Tan Sheet" July 16, 2007, p. 5). NPA launched the program because there "seemed to be a logical connection to have people on the ground" to monitor and maintain product quality and reliability since China is one of the biggest ingredient sources, NPA Vice President Scientific and Regulatory Affairs Daniel Fabricant told "The Tan Sheet"...
China Bans Using DEG In Toothpaste, But Denies Possible Health Problem
A month after saying levels of diethylene glycol found in toothpaste imported from China do not cause health problems, China has banned firms in the country from using DEG as a toothpaste ingredient, citing bans by the U.S. and other countries on sales of toothpaste products containing the chemical
Dingell Says Lab Closures “Frightening,” FDA District Chief Expects Problems
House Energy and Commerce leaders say FDA's plan to close several labs - including its only facility testing for radiological contaminants - is a threat to national security, while an FDA district chief says problems are likely to hinder the agency's work early in the planned reorganization