Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/701238
Because every batch of turmeric roots adheres to rigor- ous specification, we have avoided adulteration and conta- mination at the preliminary stages. Additionally, qualified professionals with expertise in phenotypic and genotypic characterization certify the starting material even before the process of extraction. Leveraging the quality advantage through marketing While building quality throughout the supply chain is critical to producing efficacious, pure finished goods, the process also provides marketing resources to tell your qual- ity story to customers. From inspecting a farmer's fields to implementing the correct testing procedures to finished products, these and other quality steps provide the details customers look for when verifying your claims of quality. Telling your quality story starts with thinking like your customers. Your sales staff is a great place to start this process because they can easily identify buyers' most fre- quently asked questions about product quality. During the sales process, you have to frame your product's quality story so it connects with potential buyers and responds to these questions. Once you know what quality information your cus- tomers are seeking, return to product formulation. Invite the marketing team to participate in these early stages of the product's lifecycle, so they can identify pertinent details as they develop a marketing strategy. Additionally, effective marketing teams are usually well-versed in the guidelines about ingredient claims allowed by the FDA, Federal Trade Commission, and other regulatory agencies. Regulators will not hesitate to bar companies from making specific health claims about products. Once you have the right product details, it's time to determine the methods you'll use to tell that story to poten- tial buyers. Because the safety of synthetic curcumin is unknown, it's not supposed to be sold in the USA, where the FDA has ruled that a synthetic analogue is not the same as an extract derived from nature. Above all, a synthetic product featur- ing "natural" claims is fraudulent and undermines the claims made for natural curcuminoids. It could also create a huge public relations problem with consumers who think they are buying an extract of turmeric, not petroleum. Yet a typi- cal identity check would identify the material as curcumin. Only a C14 radio carbon test could distinguish between the two, and that test is not frequently used in the industry. When we became aware that synthetically contaminated curcuminoid products were on the market, Sabinsa added C14 radio carbon testing and routinely verified all batches of Curcumin C3 Complex. We also provide the results to our customers. Other tests we routinely conduct include HPLC and HPTLC testing of the raw material and finished products as well as DNA barcoding of the rhizomes of turmeric. The curcumin product specification has more than 25 parameters that every batch of raw material must meet. Tablets & Capsules July 2016 32E