AOAC International, a worldwide provider and facilitator in the development of analytical standards, is issuing a call for dietary supplement ingredients in order to prioritize those ingredients that need validated methods.

AOAC welcomes suggested ingredients from the dietary supplement industry, government, and academia. Interested parties are invited to submit ingredients by April 14, 2006, with a brief justification/need statement as to why these ingredients should be considered.

In support of the AOAC/NIH/FDA initiative on dietary supplements, over 75 ingredients have now been prioritized and from among the top ranked ingredients, some two dozens methods specific to these ingredients are now being evaluated within the collaborative study process of the AOAC Official Methods program. The next ranking will be conducted at the Task Force meeting to be held in conjunction with the upcoming Supply Side East trade show, May 1 in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Interested parties are asked to submit a justification/need statement as to why any these ingredients should receive a higher priority score. Lack of a justification/need statement could move currently top scoring items down the list.
Visit the AOAC website at http://www.aoac.org/dietsupp6/Dietary-Supplement-web-site/ingred_call.htm to find the current list of prioritized ingredients, along with a few suggested ingredients that have justifications/need statements that can serve as examples for other write-ups.

Dietary supplement ingredients are ranked in order of priority for methods validation, and source of funding is a major driving factor in decisions. Other criteria for ranking ingredients include the relative market share of the ingredient, the general availability of methods from which to select a method, any NIH clinical trials planned or underway requiring a method to characterize the material used in the trial, and any ingredient safety concerns.

All ranking factors will be determined and justified by the AOAC Presidential Task Force on Dietary Supplements, and factors and assigned weight may change based on changing needs determined by its members.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL is a nonprofit organization that itself maintains no laboratories, conducts no research, and performs no tests. The actual work of devising and testing methods of dietary supplements is done by AOAC’s government and industry stakeholders. AOAC coordinates these scientific studies, receives and evaluates the results, gives official sanction to acceptable methods, and publishes and distributes the methods and performance data.

For more information, or to submit your suggested ingredients, e-mail Bob Rathbone at AOAC at rrathbone@aoac.org. 

Visit the AOAC website at http://www.aoac.org/dietsupp6/Dietary-Supplement-web-site/ingred_call.htm to find the current list of prioritized ingredients, along with a few suggested ingredients that have justifications/need statements that can serve as examples for other write-ups.