An updated, free resource for the health supplement industry called Guidance on Formulation and Marketing of Dietary Supplements Under the National Organic Program (NOP) has been released by the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), the Organic Trade Association (OTA), and Quality Assurance International Inc. (QAI). The AHPA and QAI created the original edition of the document in 2013. They then collaborated with OTA to revise the document to reflect the more recent advances in the organic industry.

The document offers an overview of the regulatory requirements for farm to packaged products. The goal of the document is to help product marketers to meet the regulations for organic products and the ingredients in those products. The document further states which types of supplements are eligible for organic certification under the NOP.

According to AHPA President Michael McGuffin, "Growing consumer demand for organic products and ingredients makes it important that all companies have a shared understanding of what is required to comply with federal laws and regulations for organic labeling.”

Products may display the statement “100 percent organic” if they contain only ingredients that are certified 100 percent organic and were produced with organic processing aids, according to the NOP. The statement “organic” can be displayed on the product if it contains at least 95% organic ingredients and allowed non-organic ingredients and processing aids. The product can display the statement “made with organic [specified ingredient or food group]” if it contains at least 70% organic ingredients. Products are allowed to truthfully label any certified organic ingredient on a label’s ingredient panel.

“Organic certification stands for assurance that a product has been verified to be in compliance with the strict federal regulations for organic. This guidance will greatly assist the industry's in-depth understanding of how the organic production and labeling standards apply to organic dietary supplements," said Jessica Walden from QAI.

The Guidance can be downloaded here: http://www.ahpa.org/News/LatestNews/TabId/96/ArtMID/1179/ArticleID/903/Organic-industry-leaders-issue-updated-guidance-on-organic-dietary-supplements.aspx