Certificate of Analysis (COA): NOW Supplements Refuses to Provide, Explains Why

2023-02-27 • SEND FEEDBACK |
Related: certificate of analysis, electrolytes, heavy metals, nutrition, potassium

re: heavy metals
re: potassium
re: certificate of analysis

Context: I am trying to track down and eliminate sources of lead (Pb), due to mild lead poisoning at about 16X higher than typical values.

As per my advice to never use a supplement without verifying its quality via a Certificate of Analysis, I requested the COA for NOW Supplements Potassium Chloride.

NOW Supplements Potassium Chloride @AMAZON

Response from NOW Supplements

2023-02-27

I’m very sorry, we simply do not produce COA’s.

Certificate of analysis are created by third party labs. At NOW Foods we have in-house state-of-the-art chemical and microbiology testing facilities. We are on top of ingredient issues facing our industry and focus our testing on those issues in addition to the day-to-day product testing required by our GMP certification. Our testing is based on USP, AOAC, and other official or published methods. We audit our suppliers, which includes visiting facilities where ingredients are processed to examine the protocols for ensuring safety and quality.

I can insure you that all of our ingredients and products are thoroughly tested to be of highest quality. NOW Foods has invested over 100 million dollars in our own advanced in-house state-of-the-art chemical and microbiology testing facilities. We are audited and third-party certified by UL LLC (formerly known as “Underwriters Laboratories”) as meeting federal cGMP regulatory requirements for dietary supplement manufacturing. We are also audited by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for GMP compliance. All manufacturers are required to be GMP compliant, but it is optional whether or not manufacturers contract with a third-party organization to audit, verify, and certify our compliance, as we have done.

As a leader in the natural products industry, NOW is always looking for ways we can exceed industry standards and provide the highest quality products at the best possible price. As such, NOW recently received ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for both the analytical and microbiological laboratories. The accreditation demonstrates that NOW meets technical and quality benchmarks as required by ISO/IEC 17025:2017. The accreditation is yet another example of NOW’s commitment to quality and cutting-edge labs, as well as our investments in third party certifications.
https://www.nowfoods.com/now/nowledge/now-receives-iso-accreditation-house-laboratories

Supplement Quality & Safety | NOW Foods

Thank you & Have a Wonderful Day,
NOW Foods Product Information
Eph 4:32

WIND: a word salad of certifications from agencies I do not understand let alone trust (eg the FDA) does nothing for me. And a de facto “trust us” is not good enough.

BTW, I do hope that “I can insure you...” is not a Freudian slip.

I accept that NOW Supplements uses “high standards” of some sort. How much lead is in the product?!

Do I spend days reading all the regulations such as ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and all the regulations in order to thresh-out the meaning of these statements? Which in the end tell me nothing useful. That it passes regulatory approval is the lowest bar that even gets a product into consideration.

Meaning what, exactly, in terms of heavy metals? Wonderful that they have testing equipment... that is not used to tell me anything factual or actionable. Merely meeting “Industry Standards” is a given; such standards are the lowest bar for quality! Yet that is the best assurance that NOW offers. As for being a “leader”, that’s largely a sales and marketing claim.

Bottom line: it’s a heaping serving of boilerplate, not a word salad of acronyms.

For example and for lead (Pb), 0.2 mcg of lead for one serving of magnesium chloride would meet all standards, since that would be less than the 0.5 mcg per day for a pregnant/nursing woman. But having mild lead poisoning at about 16X higher than typical values, and typically taking 3-4 servings (2 being an adult minimum), that doesn’t cut the mustard for me.

Later (“How would I know how much lead (Pb) is in your KCl and MgCl?”:

Our specification for lead in the potassium chloride powder is:
Lead 0 - 586 ppb
Lead µg/day 0.0 - 0.5 µg/day

WIND: up to 0.586 mcg lead (Pb) per 363mg elemental potassium serving. This is higher than I am interesting in consuming. It’s given as a range, a specification not a measurement, and could be a lot lower. But since NOW will not provide specifics, one must assume it is at the high end.

Compare to the 0.0610 mcg lead with the Nutricost Potassium Chloride. Why would you take a product that might have up to 58X more lead (Pb) in it? And no figures at all on Cd, Ar, Hg.

Testing others but no clarity on their own products

How does NOW handle California Prop 65?

...How does NOW handle California Prop 65?

All foods naturally contain some amount of heavy metals from the earth. NOW’s extremely sensitive analytical instruments can detect parts-per-billion (nanograms per gram) levels, so we can’t claim any product to be 100 percent free of all heavy metals. All of our ingredients and blends are screened for heavy metals to ensure that they meet our strict specifications for safety and quality.

...

WIND: how much heavy metal content exactly is in NOW Potassium Chloride and NOW Magnesium Chloride? These are weasel words “all foods... heavy metals”, “can’t claim any product to be 100 percent free”). What about 599% free (toxic waste)? The statement is scientifically and analytically meaningless. Numeric values for a product dispense with the need to engage in such non-scientific non-actionable verbiage.