Inositol, USP, powder 500g

What is the United States Pharmacopeia?
The United States Pharmacopeia (USP) is a nongovernmental, standards-setting organization that advances public health by ensuring the quality and consistency of medicines, promoting the safe and proper use of medications, and verifying ingredients in dietary supplements. USP standards are developed by a unique process of public involvement and are accepted worldwide. In addition to standards development, USP's other public health programs focus on promoting optimal health care delivery and are listed below. USP is a nonprofit organization that achieves its goals through the contributions of volunteers representing pharmacy, medicine, and other health care professions, as well as science, academia, the U.S. government, the pharmaceutical industry, and consumer organizations. USP's Internet address is www.usp.org.

What does USP do?
USP's activities and initiatives revolve around four public health programs:

Standards. Establishing standards is a core USP activity. Currently, USP provides standards for more than 4,000 prescription and non-prescription drugs, dietary supplements, veterinary drugs and health care products. These standards are published in the United States Pharmacopeia and National Formulary (USP–NF), which are officially recognized in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 321 et seq.). USP also produces Reference Standards, which are an integral part of USP's standards program. In addition, USP offers a Pharmacopeial Education program that provides continuing educational courses for professionals working in the pharmaceutical industry—helping those who use the USP–NF better understand pharmacopeial processes, standards, tests and methods.

USP Verification Program. The USP Verification Program for dietary supplements was developed in response to the increasing concerns expressed about dietary supplements in the marketplace. Through compliance testing and document review, adherence to good manufacturing practices (GMPs), and post-marketing surveillance, USP Verification Program is designed to help ensure that dietary supplement products contain the declared ingredients in the declared quantities. Further information about the Verification Program is at: www.uspverified.org

Global Assistance Initiatives (GAI). USP's GAI program consists of numerous global initiatives. USP was awarded several grants by the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID) Center for Population, Health and Nutrition (PHN). Currently, USAID is supporting the USP Drug Quality and Information (USP DQI) program, which funds programs in Nepal, Romania, Russia, Ecuador, Senegal, China, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, and the Mekong Delta region.

Patient Safety. The Center for the Advancement of Patient Safety (CAPS) was created in order to broaden USP's work within the patient safety arena. CAPS conducts data analysis and research, seeks grants, develops professional education programs, publishes articles on issues related to medication errors, participates in legislative activities, and proposes standards recommendations and guidelines for the goal of improving patient safety by preventing and reducing medication errors.

In addition, USP operates two medication error reporting, tracking, and analysis programs: the Medication Errors Reporting (MER) Program (operated in collaboration with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices) and the MEDMARXSM program. MEDMARX is an Internet-accessible database for hospitals to report and track medication errors anonymously (www.medmarx.com).

Who are USP's members and volunteers?

About 650 elected scientists and practitioners comprise USP's scientific decision-making body by serving as members of the Council of Experts (CoE) or on expert committees.
Eleven elected officers and trustees have fiduciary responsibilities for the management and policies of the organization.
About 400 members represent state associations and colleges of medicine and pharmacy; the federal government; national and international professional, scientific, and trade organizations; the pharmaceutical industry; and consumer organizations. USP members meet once every five years to adopt resolutions and to elect the CoE and USP's Board of Trustees. The next member meeting will be held in Washington, D.C., in 2005.

The following wording appears on the product label along with the mark shown to the right:

USP has tested and verified ingredients, product and manufacturing process. USP sets official standards for Dietary Supplements.

Here's what this means:

Ingredients—USP has tested and verified the ingredients for:
Correct identity of the ingredient(s) as shown on the label.
Correct declaration of quantity of the ingredient(s) as shown on the label.
Screening for potential contaminants such as heavy metals, pesticides, toxic species in botanicals, microbes (e.g. bacteria, molds, mildew, toxins), etc.
Product—USP has tested and verified the finished product for:
Consistency of ingredients within and between batches of product.
Acceptable disintegration and dissolution rates for the capsule or tablet.
Weight consistency of the capsule or tablet.
Content meets label claims at the end of the declared shelf life/use by date.
Label accuracy and completeness.
Presence of appropriate dosage information and warnings/cautions/counter-indications on the label per industry standards.
Manufacturing Process—USP has audited the manufacturing and packaging facilities for compliance with:
Conformance to Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) established by USP.
Conformance to Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs) established by USP.
Compliance with appropriate documentation and record-keeping requirements.
Usage of appropriate testing procedures throughout the manufacturing process.
Compliance with written Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for consistent, controlled manufacturing processes.
Appropriate sanitation practices.
Appropriate safety practices.
In Summary:
USP's Dietary Supplement Verification Program helps assure consumers that the dietary supplements they purchase contain what the label says it does.
Dietary supplements submitted by manufacturers to this voluntary program that meet USP's stringent criteria will bear a distinctive DSVP certification mark on the front of the label.
USP does not determine if dietary supplements are good or bad for you. Each individual needs to determine this for themselves, with the advice of their family physician or health care provider.

In other words, your life is in MUCH less danger ingesting a USP complaint inositol product rather than "trusting" that 1fast400 has a inositol product that MAY have PASSED A "Test" for contaminants. I would GLADLY pay TWICE (or even thrice) times the price for a USP compliant product than some low grade Chinese import that MIGHT have "just barely passed" the MINIMUM requirement for x or y test.

I won't say more; it is your life, not mine, after all.

)

Edited by nootropi, 21 December 2004 - 11:57 PM.

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