Public Confidence in Medicines, Supplements, Food Ingredients Supported by Standards

USP’s quality standards are used by manufacturers and regulators to help ensure the identity, strength, quality and purity of thousands of food and drug products that patients and consumers use every day.

Sep 16 2010 --- Recognizing the vital role played by publicly available quality standards in helping to protect public health, the U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) has launched a campaign to raise awareness and understanding of what these standards are, how they are created, and how they help protect patients and consumers against substandard or counterfeit medicines, dietary supplements and food ingredients. Largely unseen by the general public, USP’s quality standards are used by manufacturers and regulators to help ensure the identity, strength, quality and purity of thousands of food and drug products that patients and consumers use every day. USP’s standards for prescription and over-the-counter medicines are enforceable by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States, and USP standards are used and relied upon in more than 130 countries.

“USP’s mission is basic but its impact is profound to improve the health of people around the world through public standards and related programs that help ensure the quality, safety, and benefit of medicines and foods,” said Roger L. Williams, M.D., USP’s chief executive officer. “We trust medicines, foods and supplements in part because of the safety nets that are in place to protect us against poor quality or substandard products. Quality standards are a crucial component of those safety nets.”

Noted Timothy Franson, M.D, the president of the USP Convention, “Just as there are standards for automobile and aircraft safety, the presence of USP quality standards provides a level of public confidence. Physicians rely on quality standards when prescribing medications for patients. These standards support the bond of trust that must exist between patient and doctor.”

Working closely with FDA, other national and international stakeholders, and a large group of expert volunteers drawn from many countries including the United States, USP develops and revises quality standards in an open, transparent process based on current science focused on public health interests. As an independent, nonprofit scientific organization, USP collaborates with recognized experts regardless of geographical or political boundaries.