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NPA Launches Warning Letter Database for Member Companies

by Nicholas Saraceno | August 5, 2016

The Natural Products Association (NPA), the largest trade association for the dietary supplement industry, is announcing the launch of its highly anticipated warning letter database. This database will be a free online tool for NPA members to view violations against the dietary supplement good manufacturing practices (GMPs), which are deemed as ‘technical adulterations’ by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), dietary supplement labeling regulation and making unauthorized health claims on products labels and in labeling. Regulatory, compliance and QA/QC personnel of dietary supplement manufacturing facilities, own label distributors companies and retailers can use this information to monitor and track the top GMP violations by year and see how those trends are changing. The database will also allow end users to create their own reports. NPA Logo

According to NPA CEO and Executive Director Dr. Daniel Fabricant, “NPA is proud to announce a database for the industry that is more than just warning letters. It differentiates itself by capturing enforcement actions from various agencies. While it is searchable in many different ways you would think a warning letter database would be, it is also being designed to search disease claims/claim categories and allow for customized reports by member end users.”

 The database is also beneficial for those responsible for labeling compliance to avoid the introduction of misbranded products into interstate commerce and those marketing with claims. The database also tracks enforcement actions taken by various agencies against companies. NPA wants their members to be able to view the entire scope of federal actions against the industry beyond a warning letter, including seizures, injunctions, forfeitures, and criminal actions.

The database contains more than 440 warning letters that have been publicly released by the FDA, in addition to the enforcement actions taken by the DOJ (Department of Justice), FDA and FTC (Federal Trade Commission) since 2008. It is searchable by company name, product name, issue date, regulation, disease claims/claim category and FDA action taken. The comprehensive database is also a valuable tool not only for dietary supplement manufacturers, but retailers or consumers who want to see if FDA has found any issues with a company’s GMPs before purchasing their products. NPA will update the database weekly, as new warning letters and enforcement actions are added through various public and federal agency media outlets.

The comprehensive database is a valuable tool not only for dietary supplement manufacturers, but also retailers or consumers who want to see if FDA has found any issues with a company’s GMPs before purchasing their products. NPA will update the database weekly as new warning letters and enforcement actions are added through various public and federal agency media outlets.

“Tracking trends is always valuable for our members. That is something important for regulatory officers to know. It also begins to tells a story we could not tell previously without this data — are the violations changing as a result of a second, deeper layer cut FDA maybe taking or are FDA’s priorities changing? One trend to note is that the top 10 list of GMP charges cited by FDA is changing.” said Dr. Fabricant. “This is one of several online tools we are offering members over the course of the next 12 months.”

For more information, visit www.NPAinfo.org.

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