In June, the FDA announced a final rule that will require current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) for dietary supplements. The rule was created to assure that supplements contain proper amounts of the correct ingredients and to avoid contamination by natural toxins, bacteria, pesticides or heavy metals. The final rule establishes quality-control procedures for supplement manufacturing and the testing of ingredients and final products. Manufacturers will be required to characterize the identity, purity, strength and composition of their dietary supplements, and supplements that contain contaminants or incorrect ingredients will be judged by the FDA as adulterated or misbranded. An interim final rule allows manufacturers to request an exemption for 100% identification of certain dietary supplement ingredients. The rules will go into effect on August 24. Companies have up to three years to comply, depending on their size.

Source: FDA