Nutrition21 CertainT: Be Definite About Your Dietary Supplement Ingredients

Nutrition21 is a leader in the industry and takes huge steps towards making supplements safer, more effective, and transparent!

The supplement industry started the year out with a huge mess after a contract manufacturer was indicted following years of FDA violations. Regardless of what is parroted in the mainstream media, the supplement industry is heavily regulated, and the ABH situation is a prime example of this.

The ABH news story really got supplement companies, manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, and consumers talking about how they can ensure their dietary supplements are meeting label claims. There are multiple parties involved in producing a supplement, so it’s important that every step of the process has several checks and balances to ensure the end product is what it was intended to be.

Industry leaders such as Nutrition21 are pioneering innovative ways to verify and ensure that dietary supplement ingredients are not altered, adulterated, or underdosed throughout the product creation process. They are implementing fascinating new technology named CertainT which can help protect the dietary supplement industry and its consumers from fraud.

Nutrition21 Adopts CertainT To Increase Supply Chain Transparency

The company behind CertainT, already has used this technology in a wide variety of other industries!

PricePlow is excited to announce Nutrition21’s agreement with Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS) to implement CertainT, a state-of-the-art technology which will help protect brands, ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, and most importantly, consumers. Not only is Nutrition21 using CertainT to protect and oversee their own ingredients, they’re also offering it to be implemented by other branded ingredient companies as well!

Before we explain all CertainT has to offer be sure to sign up for PricePlow news and deal alerts to follow along with this potential game changer!

Why CertainT?

CertainT allows brands and ingredient suppliers the power to tag, track, and test for specific ingredients as the product travels through the supply chain!

Nutrition21, the manufacturer of Nitrosigine, noticed a huge gap in supply chain transparency and quickly started looking for a solution. Although ingredient companies and brands can do everything right, the quality and purity of the product can be unknowingly altered by manufacturing. The ABH Pharma recall is a great example of this, since many brands are under fire for something that was adulterated by a third party..

Since Nutrition21, manufacturer of Nitrosigine, is built off integrity, transparency, efficacy, and research having their ingredients modified in any way is unacceptable to them. When creating branded ingredients, they put a massive amount of resources and time towards research, safety, and patents in order to ensure they produce the best product possible. Their customers and end consumers both deserve the premium ingredients they’ve developed at the efficacious dose backed by research.

CertainT in Action

For example, let’s say you’ve developed and patented a phenomenal nitric oxide ingredient based upon inositol and arginine silicate (known as Nutrition21’s Nitrosigine). How can they be sure that the contract manufacturer is actually using true Nitrosigine sourced from Nutrition21, and not creating or importing some in order to cut costs? They tag it with CertainT and verify the proper dosing in the end product found on the shelves.

With all the steps Nutrition21 takes to verify the quality and purity of their ingredients, CertainT is another way they can be confident in the end product that consumers buy off the shelf. Not only can CertainT create a more transparent supply chain, it can also make it safer for everyone, which is crucial for the supplement industry.

What is CertainT?

CertainT features three technology pillars:

• Tagging

  

  SigNature molecular tags help you track and test ingredients with the CertainT platform!

  CertainT ‘s tagging pillar utilizes SigNature molecular tags,^[1] which are unique identifiers tested to be unaffected by UV radiation, heat, cold, vibration, abrasion, and other extreme environmental conditions. A single tag can be identified multiple times throughout its lifetime. This helps ensure raw materials and products are protected, and product claims and consumers’ expectations are met.

• Testing

  The testing pillar’s foundation is based on SigNify,^[2] which is a patented authentication methodology that allows SigNature molecular tags to be accurately detected and verified. The test results are provided with a Certificate of DNA analysis (CODA), which can be used as evidence in courts around the world. ADNAS has two testing sites, one in New York and one in India.

• Tracking

  The last pillar is tracking. Once tagged with the SigNature tags, the ingredients or items can be tested and tracked as it travels throughout a global supply chain.^[3] The data points can be tracked by uploading them to a secure cloud database and are available through the CertainT portal.

  Ultimately, the three elements of CertainT help improve the authenticity and traceability of an ingredient or product. It achieves this by first tagging products or ingredients with a custom molecular identifier that can be tested for its presence as it moves through the supply chain.

It’s important to note the CertainT marker used by Nutrition21 can easily be added to ingredients and is generally recognized as safe (GRAS).^[4]

How Nutrition21 Will Utilize CertainT

Nitrosigine will be Nutrition21’s first ingredient to utilize CertainT!

There’s a very good chance that your favorite supplement contains an ingredient developed by Nutrition21. With rigorous testing and research, they’ve been able to create some of the best patented ingredients on the market. Some of their well known products include: Nitrosigine, Velositol, Chromax, and nooLVL, just to name a few.

Nutrition21’s Nitrosigine,a complex of inositol-stabilized arginine silicate discussed above, will be the first product to utilize CertainT. Nitrosigine can only be added into end-products by brand owners or contract manufacturers that are licensed by Nutrition21. The final products will then be purchased from retail and checked for label claims on a frequent basis. This will make sure the ingredient is not being altered in any way throughout the supply chain.

The CertainT technology platform can also be used for measuring the amount of a specific tagged ingredient in finished goods containing multiple other things. This enables you to check that the correct dosage is contained in the end product.

Nutrition21 Is Offering CertainT to Other Ingredient Suppliers and Brand Owners!

Not only is the manufacturer of Nitrosigine using CertainT with their own products, they also formed an exclusive representation agreement with ADNAS to offer the platform to other dietary supplement brand owners and branded ingredient suppliers. Although it’s rare to see a company share new technology to ‘competitors’, Nutrition21 feels this is too crucial not to share in order to safeguard the industry.

They announced that every ingredient manufacturer will be able to use CertainT, which will help create a safer ingredient supply chain while also providing more protection. This just shows how driven Nutrition21 is towards improving the supplement industry in every way possible.

Who is ADNAS?

Although we’ve discussed ADNAS briefly throughout the article, it’s important to explain who they are and what their role is in this agreement. Applied DNA Sciences (ADNAS) is a supplier of several molecular-based technology solutions and services designed to protect products, brands, supply chains, and intellectual property of several entities from theft, counterfeiting, fraud, and diversion.

They work with companies from a wide variety of industries such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, personal care, cannabis, and the military. Their goal is to help create secure and prospering environments that cultivate integrity, quality, and success. They are the creators of CertainT, along with several other technologies, all which serve as unique security solutions that address the challenges of present-day commerce.

Final Thoughts: The Importance of CertainT

CertainT is a technology that is going to change the supplement industry in a very positive way!

With all the growth the industry has experienced over the years, supplement manufacturers are wise to implement additional regulations and constantly defend their reputation. When audits of dietary supplement manufacturers reveal issues, it’s not just reflected on the brands selling the products, but also on the ingredient suppliers and contract manufacturers.

Nutrition21 is taking a huge step towards protecting the dietary supplement industry by implementing CertainT with their products and offering it to be used by other companies as well. This biomarker can drastically improve the transparency, quality, and safety of the global supply chain. It’s important to everyone involved in the process of creating a product, such as branded ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, IP holders, brands, finished goods companies, and consumers!

This is just the beginning of using innovative technology to improve the industry and protect its reputation. PricePlow is excited to see how CertainT will change the supply chain and state of the industry. But it’s crucial that Nutrition21 is not alone in this movement — other companies need to join in to truly create a change. PricePlow will be covering all there is to know about this new technology, so stay tuned because there is a lot more coming!