Bloomingdale, IL – NOW Foods is pleased to announce that members of the AOAC  Methods Committee on Dietary Supplements have voted unanimously to approve NOW’s method, Determination of Glucosamine in Raw Materials and Dietary Supplements Containing Glucosamine Sulfate and/or Glucosamine Hydrochloride by HPLC with FMOC-Su Derivatization as an AOAC First Action Official Method(SM). This method will be designated as AOAC Method 2005.01 and will become available this summer.

This is important because when products are tested, and there are no agreed upon testing methods, the results can be inconclusive. Developing validated testing methods is imperative for moving the industry forward.

"Having NOW's method for glucosamine become the official AOAC method is a testament to the expertise of our staff, our focus on the science, and our commitment to quality. We use quality methods to analyze quality products everyday", said Michael Lelah, Ph.D., Technical Director, NOW Foods.

A notice of the adopted method will be published in the AOAC magazine, Inside Laboratory Management, and in the AOAC Journal. AOAC Staff editors will prepare the manuscript for publication in the Journal of AOAC INTERNATIONAL.

AOAC INTERNATIONAL is a 120 year-old not-for-profit scientific association committed to worldwide confidence in analytical results. The AOAC Official Methods Program is the result of a contract between the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA and the Office of Dietary Supplements, NIH with AOAC INTERNATIONAL. The purpose of the contract is to provide the FDA, other government agencies, and the dietary supplements industry with AOAC Official Methods applicable to commercially available dietary supplements and raw materials.

AOAC has a strict validation process for its Official Methods program, which includes single laboratory validation (SLV) and collaborative study of the methods. In April 2003 AOAC Expert Review Panel (ERP) on glucosamine selected NOW’s glucosamine method as the best method for further laboratory validation. Since then the method has successfully passed the 2-year validation process. This method is simple, robust and accurate.

NOW’s glucosamine method is the first method approved by AOAC as the Official Method for dietary supplements  which can be legally sold.

Joseph Zhou, Ph.D., Director of Lab Methods and Scientific Support, and Ted Waszkuc, Ph.D., Method Scientist are two key authors for this pioneer work. Each of them has been in the natural products industry for more than 10 years, and have been at NOW for more than 5 years. They have been developing and adapting methods for supplement analysis, and have also published  other methods including methods for chondroitin sulfates and SAMe. Dr. Zhou was the AOAC Study Director for the glucosamine method collaborative study, which involved 12 collaborating laboratories; 10 in the United States, one in Canada and one in Germany.  

NOW’s accomplishment in the development and validation of this glucosamine method evidences the high importance and commitment the company has toward the  use of well-developed, validated methods in controlling product quality. 

NOW Foods (www.nowfoods.com) is a family owned and operated natural products manufacturer/distributor with a 35-year legacy of providing high quality nutritional supplements at affordable prices. Their A-rated GMP certified facility boasts state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities. NOW maintains a Wet Lab and an Analytical Lab to assure ingredient identity and potency, as well as a Microbiological Lab to test for microbiological contaminants. NOW employs one of the finest teams of product quality experts in the supplements industry. They conduct specialized tests, analyses and inspections that allow the company to offer superior products that surpass every possible independent test. The Richard’s family pledge is "underlying NOW's commitment to quality is our commitment to you - to provide the best products available at a reasonable price and, thereby, play a meaningful role in the quality and extension of human life." For more information visit www.nowfoods.com 

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For More Information:
Suzanne Shelton
847-676-4337    
Suzanne@SheltonGroupPR.com