The demand for finished product testing has been steadily increasing for the past year.  With FDA findings on the rise, marketers and manufacturers are trying to better understand the specific interactions with all the combined ingredients in the final product. Unfortunately, when testing is performed on the finished product only, there may be a scramble to understand the interactions between the active ingredients and choose what markers can be recovered to meet label claims.
The proper way to handle full label claim testing is to perform the appropriate tests during the research and development stage. During this stage, the ingredient interactions can be conclusively determined, so over-formulation or other formulation changes can be made if necessary.  With this data in-hand, the specifications can be set, label claims can be calculated and testing guidelines can be created. When this protocol is followed, the final quality control testing on the finished product becomes the efficacy verification step that it is intended to be.
This type of testing protocol is especially important in probiotic and enzyme formulations, as there are many common interferences that have been seen time and again. The good news is, these can be proven with a quick spike recovery test or small batch lab blend to verify any ingredients that may be causing interference.  A knowledgeable and experienced lab will know exactly how to get you the information you need to ensure a successful product—we are here to help!  Testing will help you fully understand your products, and if you see an unusual result or don’t understand why the result is much higher or lower than specification, then we can help explain it.  We’re here to help you solve the mystery! Just remember, testing your finished product blends is challenging but not impossible with the right partner.