Articles

As part of current good manufacturing practices (GMP), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires a dietary supplement to consistently meet established specifications for identity, purity, strength, and composition. A botanical represents a highly complex mixture of natural compounds. Botanicals used in dietary supplements contain any part of a plant or a preparation of a plant, including extracts.   The chemical composition of botanicals varies based on numerous factors, including where a plant is grown, its developmental stage, and harvesting methods. It may appear that GMP testing for botanicals is more complex than for synthetic pharmaceuticals.  High-performance thin-layer chromatography...

Ensuring your product meets a proven standard of quality requires a testing laboratory with an involved quality department, ensuring trained employees follow an established quality management system (QMS) to meet your needs. At CTLA, we operate with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation, which requires yearly audits. As part of our ISO/IEC accreditation, we annually submit our QMS for third-party evaluation. Our quality manager maintains and updates our QMS for repeatable, measurable laboratory results to constantly improve our services. The QMS documents our policies, range of laboratory activities, procedures, record-keeping practices and traceability, communication methods, and review processes. Our QMS details a process...

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) ‒ one of today’s most common sample analysis techniques ‒ separates compounds from a soluble mixture for the identification of target analytes. Using diode array detection (DAD) with HPLC analysis provides flexibility to produce specific results for beverage, food, dietary supplement, and other personal products markets. HPLC with DAD  provides fast, accurate, and cost-effective analysis for drugs, pharmaceuticals, nucleic acids, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, antioxidants, and other compounds. The Basics of Liquid Chromatography Like all chromatographic methods, liquid chromatography has a mobile and a stationary phase. The mobile phase carries the sample over the stationary phase, called...

Advantages of Gas Chromatography Since its development in 1952, gas chromatography (GC) has been (and remains) one of the most widely used techniques in analytical chemistry. GC separates and quantifies components in a sample mixture and is used globally to analyze many different types of organic compounds. GC testing is used in research, forensics, environmental safety, healthcare, food analysis, and quality control. Understanding the process behind GC, its advantages and disadvantages, and its partner techniques, can help you determine if it is the right technique for your testing needs. CG System Components There are three parts to a gas chromatography...

Food is awesome. The right nutrition fuels our bodies and brains to operate at optimal levels. What is and is not in our food keeps us healthy and active. For public safety and educated consumer consumption, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the food industry. An ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited food testing laboratory uses standardized methods for food safety evaluations and nutritional panel testing.    The information age combined with growing disposable income has consumers seeking and demanding sustainably sourced high-quality foods. For food producers and marketers, a product with third-party certification offers consumers verification that the product is what...