What Are Your Quality Control Procedures?

The quality of the raw materials that go into any supplement, and of the finished product, matters. Hammer Nutrition works only with manufacturers that meet its quality standards. Here is how Hammer Nutrition supplements are made.

Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)

Hammer Nutrition products are made in facilities that follow Good Manufacturing Practices and are audited by independent programs such as SQF. These programs set standards for quality assurance and quality control covering:

  • Facilities
  • Staff
  • Safety
  • Sanitation
  • Ingredients
  • Batching
  • Processing
  • Packaging
  • Documentation
  • Shipping
  • Product support

The manufacturer

The primary manufacturer of Hammer Nutrition supplements has worked in natural health for over forty years and runs its own GMP manufacturing facility and distribution center. Hammer Nutrition visits the facility several times a year. Staff handling raw materials or finished products wear full protective clothing, machinery is cleaned and sanitized after every product and at the end of every work day, and special ventilation keeps each room dust-free.

Obtaining the ingredients

Every potential raw material supplier must provide a Certificate of Independent Laboratory Analysis with every shipment. It covers at least 15 items, including:

  • Lot number, country of origin and date of manufacture
  • Shelf life and the storage conditions needed to maintain it
  • Independent laboratory testing of identity and purity
  • Independent laboratory testing for microbial content, heavy metals, solvents and pesticides
  • An allergen statement covering milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts and soybeans
  • The exact original source of the material and of anything added to it

Suppliers of botanical ingredients must also complete a detailed supplier reliability audit covering how plants are gathered, identified, stored, processed and tested.

Where the raw materials come from

Hammer Nutrition tries to buy raw materials from the primary manufacturer of each material, provided they meet Hammer's and the manufacturer's requirements. Most of the time this means US-based suppliers. Hammer's policy is to use Chinese-sourced materials only when supplies elsewhere are low or unavailable, and in those cases the materials are checked even more closely.

From beginning to end: how a supplement is made

  1. A batch record is created for every ingredient, with batch and lot numbers.
  2. The quality team checks the batch record against the master record before production starts.
  3. Every ingredient is weighed, and quality signs off on the weights.
  4. Ingredients are milled and blended, and quality checks the blend.
  5. A test batch is run and checked before the full run.
  6. During encapsulation, checks are made every 15 minutes, and quality confirms weights every hour.
  7. Finished capsules are polished to remove dust and released for packaging only after quality approval.
  8. Packaging and finished goods are checked again before release for distribution.

For more on Hammer's quality standards, see our Commitment to Quality page.