EHPM Quality Guide a Tool for Industry Self-Regulation

19/05/08 Food supplement manufacturers must move towards self-regulation to achieve a consistency in quality control across the European Union’s (EU) Member States, an  industry expert has said.

Peter Berry Ottaway, scientific and technical adviser to the European trade organisation EHPM, said that despite the current absence of an EU-wide standard, companies should self-regulate to ensure the production of high quality products throughout Europe.

Mr Berry Ottaway is the editor of the recently published EHPM Quality Guide for Food Supplements, which aims to help industry comply with EU-wide rules by detailing both legislative requirements and recommended best practices across the EU.

“Although a number of different national guidelines are already in place, these emphasise different aspects and requirements,” said Mr Berry Ottaway. “The aim of the EHPM document is to harmonise these, so that we have a consistency across the EU, and also something that can be understood and worked to outside of the European Union.”

The guide was first published in November last year and since then has seen enormous demand, with hundreds of companies throughout Europe requesting copies as well as manufacturers from across the globe including the USA, Canada and Argentina.

Developed by a team of technical experts from the European food supplement industry, the guide covers all aspects of production – manufacturing, quality control, packaging, distribution and storage. Its recommended requirements are based on examples of best practices, to help maintain the safe and consistent production of supplements. 

Mr Berry Ottaway said: “The guide can be seen as a form of industry self-regulation, that’s what it is intended for. I would urge companies to comply with this guide – if they want to stay in business in the long run, they should have it.”