Dietary Supplement Analytical Methods and Reference Materials Program (AMRM)

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Reference Materials for Dietary Supplement Analysis

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Reference materials (RMs) are important resources for optimizing and verifying analytical measurements. An RM is a material that is homogenous and stable with respect to one or more specified properties. For food and dietary supplement RMs, the specified properties are often quantified values with uncertainties for select macro- and micronutrients, marker compounds, toxins, contaminants, and/or adulterants (1). Matrix-based and calibration RMs are therefore powerful tools for developing new analytical methods, verifying measurements of unknown samples, supporting quality assurance, and performing instrument calibrations.   

The AMRM Program makes available certified reference materials (CRMs), primarily through collaborative work with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in which the target constituents are generally quantified by multiple analytical methods. In developing CRMs for botanical dietary supplements, NIST often engages with private sector suppliers and manufacturers to procure kilogram quantities of authenticated natural-matrix materials (e.g., vouchered whole plants or powdered plant parts). To the extent possible, NIST dietary supplement CRMs are designed as suites of materials representing the different manufacturing stages, such as a plant part (e.g., leaves or roots), an extract, and an oral dosage formulation.  To date, the AMRM Program has worked with NIST to develop more than 30 dietary supplement CRMs.

NIH and NIST identify and prioritize needs for RMs by assessing biomedical research, methodological gaps, safety concerns, and market reports. AMRM-produced CRMs for dietary ingredients and supplements are not intended to represent an ideal or “gold standard” preparation. Although the CRMs must be derived from authenticated sources, their composition is not intended to set an industry standard, meet a given company’s specifications, or elicit a specific biological response. Rather, AMRM-produced CRMs are designed to represent the types of challenges that analysts might encounter with real-world samples when verifying ingredients or formulations or measuring clinical samples.

Through expanded use of RMs, those in academia, government, and industry can better advance biomedical research, protect public safety, ensure quality control, and promote public health (2).

1. SA Wise and MM Phillips. 2019. Anal Bioanal Chem 411(1):97-127.
2. CA Rimmer, KE Sharpless, SA Wise, JM Betz, PM Coates. 2013. Anal Bioanal Chem 405(13):4337-44.

The NIST Web site provides additional information about the dietary supplement reference materials program:

• About NIST SRMs
• Search and order NIST SRMs
• NIST SRMs for dietary supplements
• NIST SRMs for clinical measurements
• Food and nutrition information at NIST
• The ABCs of Using Standard Reference Materials in the Analysis of Foods and Dietary Supplements: A Practical Guide, NIST Special Publication 260-181

AMRM-supported CRMs for dietary supplement analyses have quantified values with uncertainties for select macro- and micronutrients, marker compounds, toxins, contaminants, and/or adulterants. These calibration solutions and matrix-based CRMs are powerful tools for developing new analytical methods, verifying measurements of unknown samples, supporting quality assurance, and performing instrument calibrations.