The United States’ nutraceutical market has taken a major blow as inquiries led by legislators have revealed that many vitamins and nutraceutical companies are lying about what’s in their products. This industry is not regulated like most products in the U.S. The Federal Drug Administration, the entity in charge of food and drug regulation, does not have a say over what many nutraceutical companies actually put in their products. Recent discoveries of products containing fewer ingredients than listed on the bottle or none at all, has caught the attention of many in and outside of the market.
Recently, Canada created more regulations and requirements for those in the nutraceutical business. Now the Canadian government requires all new nutraceutical imported into Canada to carry a Natural Product Number (NPN) and be imported by a Health Canada licensed facility. This means that nutraceuticals imported from the United States, must be assessed and approved by Health Canada and a site licensed facility. Considering what has been happening in the U.S. lately, this could cause a swift decline of nutraceutical imports and put a major dent in some or all industry profits.
Still some in the business say there are ways to keep nutraceuticals on the shelf. The first step is to partner with a Canadian site licensed facility. This relationship will add significantly more credibility to some companies, while making it easier to obtain a NPN. For cosmetics companies, it means getting a cosmetic notification (CN) is more important than ever. Getting a NPN can take between two and six months. In addition, nutraceutical companies must also provide a list of ingredients in the product, the dose, potency, non-medical additions, and recommended use to site licensed facilities. Ensure you know about new labeling requirements. Some things that must be listed on bottles are: any need for special storage, quantity of pills in the bottle, product license number, and more.
The new rules in Canada do not have to be a killer to your nutraceutical merchant account. All you need is an experienced payment processor who understands the regulations and can guide your business down the right path.