Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Iodine USP, Understanding Why People Buy It

By Catherine Gibson


Labels are important in all aspects of products and manufacturing. This ensures that consumers know what the product is for and its usage. Companies need to follow the regulations and rules as mandated by the Food and Drugs Administration. However, before that department was created, public health and safety in 1820 was and still is under the publication of information in United States Pharmacology. One medicine that is defined there is Iodine USP.

Said mark is being looked for by consumers as part of their practiced observations on the product label. Usually, that is found under the name of its product. Simply, references are found in USP reports and websites for commonly used drugs and its preparations. Tests for quality, purity, and potency of those drugs are done.

Before, that mark is not necessary to place on the labels. However, some companies have started to include it regardless which lets people know they had followed and passed the standards of USP. Pharmacists, medical practitioners, consumers, and patients are those people who will benefit from that.

USP mission statement contains health protection and improvement of people wherever they are in the world. They work hard to build healthcare that provides quality. That has given birth to their standards and programs. They also want to bring an impact to this sector in order to lessen poorly given medical help and health issues.

Speaking of standards, this department has about 3,500 of them in its resources. It is known as USP Reference Standards which contains specimens for drug substance, food ingredients, product degradation and more. It also provides details for testing and assays for USP NF, the compendia combination of USP and National Formulary.

The result of that combined compendia is the outline for detailed monographs. USP NG will tackle product packaging, ingredients, definition, and specifications. Later, these will be separated wherein USP gets assigned to drug compounds, substances, and dosages. On the other hand, National Formulary gets excipient monographs.

Quality standards for this label have four indicators for laboratory testing. First is identity which tests the claims on the drug if it is true or not. Second is potency and this determines the right amount of chemicals and solutions found in it. Third is purity which means that it is free of contaminants. Fourth is performance which tests how fast this dissolves and gets absorbed in the body.

A benchmark has been formed because of these standards that affect medicinal drugs being offered globally. These will affect product developments and its stages due to the offered scientific process, expertise, and service. This way, assurance is given to people buying the products.

To provide an example, let us take strong iodine tincture and its ingredients and preparation. Per details provided by USP, a solution of every 100 ml has to have KI or potassium iodide at a maximum of 5.5 grams as well as iodine at 7.5 grams. To prepare, purified water is poured over KI at 50 ml and 50 grams respectively. Later, 70 grams of iodine will be mixed in agitation until well blended. Last, alcohol is poured onto it until it becomes 1 liter in total.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment