Natures Sunshine Quality Control

Product Development
At Nature’s Sunshine, the design of superior products starts with Research and Development (R&D). In the development of each product, quality is built in at the beginning of the process. That standard of excellence begins with the knowledge and expertise of the two groups within R&D: Product Development and Methods Development. Within these two groups, NSP employs highly trained scientists and technicians to ensure the high standard of quality and effectiveness you have come to expect from Nature's Sunshine Products.

Product Quality
Our company strongly believes that uncompromising quality is not an option--it’s an obligation. It’s not a vague goal--it’s standard operating procedure. That’s why the Nature’s Sunshine Quality Assurance Department is the acknowledged quality leader in the industry. By placing in your hands the finest-quality herbs and nutritional supplements, Nature’s Sunshine gives you the tools you need to take charge of your health and to look and feel your best. The quality process starts with the raw herb pulled from the ground, and extends through the manufacturing process to the finished products you take every day.

Manufacturing- Take an online tour of the manfacturing plant.
The recent expansion of Nature’s Sunshine’s Spanish Fork warehouse/manufacturing facility more than doubles our total usable space (to over 250,000 sq. ft.) and our production capacity. The expansion also includes several more R&D and Quality Assurance labs and new manufacturing equipment.

As part of our improved environmental and process controls, Nature’s Sunshine has added many new, state-of-the-art features which translates to multiple benefits for the consumer and for NSP, including:

Higher quality products that meet pharmaceutical standards

Cleaner, more efficient production

Reduced emissions and greater environmental awareness

Better temperature and humidity control which results in higher quality and longer lasting products

Quality, Service, Integrity
Nature’s Sunshine Products takes enormous pride in the quality of the products we offer. Indeed, quality is the first part of the Nature’s Sunshine motto: "Quality, Service and Integrity." From raw materials to finished goods, Nature's Sunshine ensures that your products are the best that money can buy. Research and Development of Nature's Sunshine Products

Product Development
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

Once preliminary batches of new formulations are produced on a small scale, the product can move into production. Product Development is responsible for an accelerated and real-time stability program. NSP takes great care to make sure products maintain quality and potency throughout their shelf life. Scientists test and examine products after specified periods of time to guarantee they meet label claims and maintain appearance.

Product Development works hand-in-hand with production to oversee the manufacturing of NSP products. NSP follows good manufacturing practices (GMPs)—strict government regulations mandated by the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Product Development aids Manufacturing in implementing and complying with these GMPs.

Raw Material and Product Testing
Behind every Quality Assurance test for active components stands NSP’s Methods Development Group. These chemists develop methods to test raw materials and finished products, identifying and isolating active components. This ensures that our products always meet specifications and label claims. The Methods Development Group measures and identifies the naturally occurring active ingredients found in the raw material. They also obtain an herbal fingerprint to ensure consistency and quality.

NSP chemists use sophisticated equipment to accomplish these tasks. High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), Gas Chromatography (GC), Mass Spectrometry (MS) including HPLC-MS/MS, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR), Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) and Ultraviolet-Visible Spectrometry (UV-VIS) are a few of the instruments at their disposal. NSP scientists’ expertise is recognized worldwide with publication of their methods in peer-reviewed journals.

Product Safety and Education
The Health Sciences department at Nature's Sunshine Products is comprised of a group of scientists with biology, nutrition, medical, pharmacognosy and pharmacy backgrounds. The role of Health Sciences is to ensure the safety of products and to educate distributors and consumers on the benefits of natural products.

The safety of our products is continually monitored by tracking any questions, complaints or adverse reactions reported by our distributors or their customers. These questions and complaints are logged in detail and reviewed often. Some of the other safety responsibilities include: Product safety and effectiveness. Potential safety warnings. Appropriate product dosing. The best possible combination of ingredients to achieve the desired result.

Education about products is also provided to persons within Nature's Sunshine Products and to its distributors and their customers through the following ways:

Detailed information provided to customers for technical or health-related questions.
Product presentations at herb conferences, company conventions and many other venues.
Internal training to the Customer Service and Sales departments.
Technical articles that are sent directly to Distributors.

Product Quality
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

Quality begins in selection, where only the finest herbs and raw materials are obtained. The company’s global sourcing of raw materials ensures that the highest quality products are chosen from each harvest season. After being harvested, these materials are shipped to the manufacturing facility, where they are subjected to a series of in-depth quality control tests to ensure purity, potency and cleanliness. Nature's Sunshine meticulously tests all of the raw materials we receive. Our QA testing continues throughout the entire production process. In all, we use more than 300 tests and procedures to ensure the quality of the raw materials we use and the finished products we sell.

Once a product has been produced, it undergoes a battery of tests to assure consistency, quality and potency. The finished product is audited by inspectors for bulk weight, liquid volume, bottle count, bottle sealing and legible lot number. Samples are then given to the QA labs so scientists can complete testing according to finished product specifications. After all tests are completed and the product has passed the inspections, Quality Assurance will release the product. The batch record and a sample of the finished product are retained for future reference. If a customer has a question about a product, QA can refer to the retention sample of the lot in question.

Every test we conduct leads to better product quality, and excellence in product quality is what has put our products where they are today--at the top of the industry. You can be assured that with each new product we develop and manufacture, our commitment to excellence will continue. The following represents a few of the important tests we conduct:

Disintegration
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

Each lot of tablets or capsules produced at NSP must pass the test for disintegration. Tablets and capsules are tested in accordance with the United States Pharmacopoeia. The tablets or capsules are placed in water maintained at 37° C, and the motion of the disintegration apparatus simulates the passage of a tablet or capsule through the body. The time required for each tablet and capsule to break down is recorded, and all tablets and capsules must dissolve within 30 minutes to be accepted by NSP Quality Assurance. Dissolution Testing

This test mimics the body’s digestive system and shows the amount of product that is available for use by the body over time. We use this equipment to test our time-release products such as T/R Vitamin C, T/R Valerian and T/R St. John’s Wort. The Dissolution System controls critical environmental parameters for the sample being tested, including temperature, stir rate, sampling time and sampling volume. This close control allows for the highest possible accuracy in testing of our time-release products. Collected samples are analyzed using extremely sensitive analytical instrumentation such as HPLC or UV-Vis analysis. These instruments show the rate at which the compound is released.

Ash testing
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

We burn a small sample of herb material in a special microwave furnace for one hour at 700° C. This burns away all of the organic (plant) matter. Any ash that remains after the burn is mineral content or dirt, which is subsequently weighed. Every herb has a characteristic mineral content and a corresponding typical ash content. If, in testing, we find an ash content that is significantly higher than the typical ash content, we suspect the presence of dirt or some other foreign inorganic material. Dirt is a common problem, especially with herbs harvested from plant roots. If harvesters do not take the time to completely clean the dirt from the roots, NSP rejects their herbs.

Acid Insoluble testing
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

The inorganic ash left after ash testing is treated with hydrochloric acid and burned again. Any remaining ash is called acid-insoluble ash (AIA). A high AIA value may indicate that the herb sample is contaminated with metal particles.

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

This extremely sensitive computerized instrumentation allows us to analyze the ingredients of a mixture. The instrument uses advanced analytical techniques to separate, identify and quantify individual components. Vitamins and active constituents in herbs are tested on the HPLC. These components are measured in all finished products to verify that each lot meets the amount claimed on the label. We also use HPLC to examine the purity and potency of raw materials, particularly herbs that have active compounds. For example, the parthenolide content in feverfew and the ephedra content in ma huang must meet specifications before these materials can receive QA approval.

Organoleptic ID testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

This is usually the first step in the identification of herb samples coming into the Quality Assurance testing area. This analysis includes testing with the senses (checking the taste, odor, color and appearance of the raw herb material). Since herbs are natural products, their characteristics may vary. However, they must fall within a specified range.

Microbiological testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

By testing for and counting the bacteria on machinery, equipment and personnel in the production area, we can evaluate the standard hygiene level and the efficiency of our cleaning procedures. By checking the bacteria counts in the production areas, we ensure that our products will not become contaminated in the manufacturing plant. NSP utilizes two different methods to test for bacteria: swabbing methods and a device called a bactometer, which uses advanced computer technology to test for the presence of bacteria in raw materials, liquids and finished products. The bactometer is the testing machine of choice. It detects the growth of organisms by the change of electronic signals passed through the testing modules containing suspect bacteria. An increase in conductance in the sample indicates growth of organisms, and changes in

the electronic signals are used to count the amount of organisms present. Nature’s Sunshine was the first company in the industry to utilize this exciting technology. In addition to the tests mentioned below, tests are also conducted for the presence of coliforms, pseudomonas and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

Total Bacteria testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

To use the bactometer to determine the number of microbes that might be present, we take a total plate count. We test a sample of raw material and determine the amount of aerobic microbe contamination in the sample. We then compare this count to our stringent allowable spec levels. If any raw material counts are higher than allowable levels, the lot is rejected and returned to the vendor. Finished products are also audited to ensure that they meet NSP quality specifications.

Mold and Yeast testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

We regularly perform yeast and mold counts using the bactometer. Its special modules contain the elements a mold or yeast would need to sustain life if it were present. When the organism grows, it is detected on the bactometer.

E. coli testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

The dangers of Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria are well-known. In large enough quantities, these bacteria can be fatal. NSP tests raw materials for the presence of E. coli using specially designed E. coli count plates that contain an indicator that turns the bacteria blue. This allows for visual identification of the bacteria and, of course, rejection of that particular lot of raw material.

Salmonella testing)
Once the Marketing and R&D departments approve a product idea, R&D’s Product Development group builds the product from conception to finished product. This process involves a vast amount of technology and expertise. Nature’s Sunshine manufactures capsules, tablets, bulk powders, liquids and skin care products. Each finished product must meet different criteria to ensure that it looks professional and consistent. Our chewable tablets, bulk powders and liquid products must be palatable. Scientists from Product Development are able to formulate great-tasting, good-looking products without artificial flavors or colors, keeping them as natural as possible.

Salmonella bacteria are responsible for many food poisoning cases. NSP tests for salmonella bacteria in herb raw materials and products using what is called a 1-2 test. This test allows us to obtain results much more quickly than standard culture methods.