What are the procedures of quality tests

Today, the quality of the raw materials used in production matters much more than ever before, and it is undeniably essential for consumers that what quality raw materials are included in the finished products.

At Hammer Nutrition, we pay attention to this and take this demand very seriously, and that's why we also select the supplier companies according to whether their qualifications meet the quality and origin requirements that we expect together with our customers.

GMP (Good Manufacturing Technologies):

Companies that consistently use the GMP (Good Manufacturing Technologies) rules, they are able to continuously offer their customers products of consistent quality. Just the intention and promise that we will try to produce quality goods is not enough.

GMP certification compliance with its criteria requires a commitment to quality and continuous improvement, which enable companies to measure their performance according to a recognized quality standard.

The NSF and that SQF organizations were also created in order to facilitate this process. Their presence - like supervisory body -, enables manufacturers to meet the quality standard that ensures the quality level of their products and which is not only expected by sophisticated customers, but also of fundamental importance.

NSF registration and SQF certified certification assures manufacturers that they meet standards that focus on consistency and accuracy for quality assurance and quality control:

• Equipment
• Staff
• Safety
• Hygiene
• Ingredients
• Dosage
• Processing
• Wrapping
• Documentation
• Transport
• Product support

Hammer Nutrition's manufacturer choice? Only the best!

For example:
The manufacturer of most of Hammer Nutrition's supplements, it has been a dedicated believer in natural health for more than forty years. They also shared the goals of their mission in a statement on their website:

Our manufacturing plant and our distribution center we also operate in accordance with the GMP standard in order to ensure the appropriate quality at each step of the production process.

From research to development , through wording, processing, packaging and distribution, you can be sure that our staff are committed to every aspect of quality throughout the entire manufacturing process.

We constantly strive to our customers with extraordinary products we use the purest ingredients from the best sources, they are processed with the utmost care, we offer all this at a competitive price, without sacrificing efficiency or quality.

Of course, we check the facilities of Hammer Nutrition and its partners several times a year and every time we find them flawless and hygienic beyond imagination:

• All employees who work with raw materials or finished products wear protective clothing.
• The machines are frequently and meticulously cleaned and disinfected according to a strict schedule. According to our manufacturer's instructions: All surfaces, machines and tools that come into contact with food are thoroughly cleaned with a dry cloth/brush and then with a vacuum cleaner after the production of each product and at the end of each day. Any residue that cannot be removed by these dry cleaning methods is removed by brushing wet with isopropyl alcohol followed by wet vacuuming. The machines and tools are then thoroughly cleaned with alcohol-based, disposable wipes, then placed in closed, hygienic boxes, and then covered with plastic film or sealed back in their own box to protect the surfaces that come into contact with food, even during the period when are not in use. Machines and tools are always re-checked in accordance with health requirements before they are used for the production of the next product. This also applies to the surface treatment of all equipment and tools that come into contact with ingredients and that may affect the quality of the finished products.
• Special ventilation equipment was installed in each room to ensure dust-free/clean air at every moment and in every room. Essentially, all our rooms are perfectly clean rooms.

We even polished the floor of the warehouse with diamond , which helps to maintain the cleanliness of the floor and its hardness ensures its integrity.

Sourcing the purest ingredients

You can imagine that this is a huge scale, a multi-stage process that lasts from the ordering of raw materials to the finished product. The first step, of course, is to acquire the purest raw materials.

The primary manufacturer of Hammer Nutrition supplements also requires all of its suppliers to have an independent laboratory certificate upon receipt of each raw material shipment. This certificate includes no less than 15 key items - Some of these items include:

• Materials Lot number
• Country of origin of materials
• Production date
• Declaration of the warranty period and a precise description of the tools used to determine it. In addition, the decomposition products, or the efficiency reduction curve, calculated for a five-year period from production and the determination of the conditions necessary for the optimal maintenance of storage conditions.
• A statement and reference to industry-accepted proof procedures, detailing the identification and purity of the raw materials and the results of these analyses. (Must be detailed and include the product name, contact name and phone number of the independent laboratory that performed the identification test.)
• A statement and reference to industry-accepted procedures for demonstrating that raw materials meet FDA requirements for microbial content, heavy metals, solvents, and pesticides, and the results of these tests.
• Statement on the presence or absence of allergens and other substances in the product, contact with which during the production process may affect the content of the final product: milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, nuts, wheat, peanuts, soybeans.
• Statement of the exact source of the raw materials and/or exact data on the original source from which the material was extracted or derived in any other way. (For example, glucosamine is extracted from crab, lobster and shrimp.)
• A statement of the exact original source of any added material added to the named material and/or the exact original source of any added material extracted or otherwise derived from the named material.

Also, if any herbal products have been used in the formula, a 27-point questionnaire (officially known as the Herbal Supplement Credibility Checklist) must be completed by prospective suppliers. This questionnaire contains the following points:

1. The questionnaire in this part, questions such as:

• Is all relevant information available for the identification and marketing of substances?
• Do you have records of collection dates and locations?
• Are the collected materials properly stored and protected from environmental influences?

2. Botanical processing – in this section, questions such as:

• Are the raw materials and added materials clearly identified by content and dosage?
• Was the sampling performed by a trained professional?
• Does the way the materials are handled, identified, and stored prevent some degree of contamination, damage, mix-up, and other errors?
• In addition to proper storage, are the products also provided with properly controlled temperature and humidity?

3. Testing – in this section, questions such as:

• Is suitable laboratory equipment available to carry out all necessary tests?
• Are product descriptions prepared, reviewed and approved by a competent person?
• Have the products been tested with sufficient frequency to verify that their consistency and effectiveness are in accordance with the product descriptions?
• Have the laboratory instruments been calibrated regularly at appropriate intervals?
• Were the product tests carried out by competent and qualified persons?

These steps ensure that our manufacturers only use high-quality raw materials from recognized suppliers.

Where do the raw materials come from?

The saying that "You get what you pay for." It's true for quite a few of your purchases in general, and it's especially true for really high-quality nutrients, be they vitamins, minerals, herbs, or whatever.

When we create a product at Hammer Nutrition system of requirements , the first thing we do is to decide which of the ingredients and how much is necessary for an effective result, we keep in mind our possibilities/limitations due to the size of the capsule and also the cost of the consumers, however, we definitely take two things into account.

Either way, the most important factor is getting the best possible raw materials. We are fortunate that our manufacturers a in accordance with our strict requirements/regulations , they conscientiously process the raw materials for us, and also when purchasing the materials, they procure these raw materials from the various suppliers in compliance with the very strict requirements already listed.

Our manufacturers provide many options, creating several potential sources of raw materials at the same time. It happens quite often and we spend a lot of time making the best decisions in order to ensure that our nutrient purchases we can achieve the best price/value ratio .

In other words: It may happen that the special formula of a particular nutrient would be very expensive, but this does not justify charging the cost to the customer. If this situation - which happens very rarely - does arise, we will look for the best alternative.

However, the most important thing is that we NEVER skimp on the quality of raw materials: we source only the purest raw materials available and NEVER sacrifice quality for a lower price.

We always strive to source both raw materials and additives from the primary manufacturer, of course only if these nutrients are both suitable the demanding expectations of Hammer and our manufacturers too. Due to the time factor of deliveries, the vast majority of our suppliers are American, but we also have suppliers from other countries who produce certain nutrients of exceptionally high quality.

Raw materials from China are traditionally rated under the "attractive" category. The costs of these raw materials are usually lower than other sources, but typically the quality of these products is also suspect.

However, in the last few years, there have been significant positive changes in the quality of raw materials produced in China. However, in the past - and now - according to Hammer Nutrition's guidelines, raw materials from China are only used when stocks are running low worldwide and/or the only possible source of the raw material is in China. In these extraordinary cases, the nutrients in question are always subjected to an even more rigorous examination to make sure that the ingredients that are acceptable to us and not of lower quality have been delivered.

From start to finish - How Hammer Nutrition products are made

We present the basic steps of the production process that our manufacturers go through during the production of each Hammer Nutrition product:

4. Order – The Hammer order arrives at the manufacturer and the factory representative confirms this for us.

5. Starting the insertion of an order item - The process manager determines the items and the quantity number so that all of the items/ingredients/nutrients are available.

6. Raw material inventory control and ordering - The process manager checks the current stock of raw materials and, if the right amount is available, determines the items and quantities required for production. If additional raw materials are needed, the process manager starts the reorder. Batch entry process – When placing an order, the process manager performs batch entry for each item/supplier/nutrient.

7. Higher level batch installation QA (Quality Assurance) check – The quality control group (Quality) checks the accuracy of the entry of the order item and the entry of the item already submitted for production. If the two items match 100%, complete the process of entering the order and return the entries of the selected order items to the production inspector.

8. The result of entering the order item - The production controller issues the necessary batches to the mixing technician for batching.

9. Dosage measurement – the mixing bench technician weighs all the ingredients.

10. Quality Control – The verification of the required quantities (defined by weight) is completed.

11. Grinding Portions – The mixing/grinding technician crushes the precise ingredients to ensure ingredient homogeneity and avoid clumping during production.

12. Quality assurance control – The post-mixing check (defined by weight) is completed.

13. Testing lots before encapsulation – The encapsulation/mixing bench technician tests the product in a traditional or computational way. If necessary, it also performs item comparisons.

14. Quality assurance control – The quality control team completes the tests or repeats them.

15. Remixing portions – Once the testing is approved, the mixing/grinding technician mixes/grinds all the ingredients again to a homogeneous consistency.

16. Quality assurance control – The quality of the mixed materials is checked. If approved, the process supervisor/manager completes the final mixing of the ingredients.

17. Encapsulation – Once the tests are approved, the encapsulation technician encapsulates the products.

18. Quality assurance checks – During the encapsulation process, the packaging technician checks every 15 minutes with the production manager and several other managers. Quality is approved hourly and by weight.

19. Cleaning – The encapsulation technician cleans each capsule from the dust of the components.

20. Quality assurance control – Once analyzed and approved, the cleaned capsules are sent to packaging. Only the manager has the authority to transfer the capsules from the encapsulation and cleaning process to the packaging.

21. Application for packing – The process supervisor/manager assigns items to the packaging line.

22. Compilation of packaging – The packaging technicians arrange the items on the machine lines in a product-specific manner. They select and put the labels on the given product.

23. Quality assurance control – Quality control to ensure that the products on the given production line are flawless, paying particular attention to the placement of the labels.

24. Inspection of items as they pass through the production line – The packaging technician performs various tasks to package the capsules. The manager responsible for the entire production often conducts inspections during the process.

25. Boxing – Packaging technicians pack the jars/boxes for shipping according to specifications.

26. Quality assurance control – Quality control during packaging, which is a guarantee that both the delivered quantity and the totality of the given shipment meet the specifications.

27. Delivery – The delivery administrator records and delivers the products according to the given order.

28. Quality assurance control – The management verifies that the shipment quantity, control and the whole process were accurate.

29. Archiving – The shipping administrator records the packaged products item by item.

Another example of the high importance of quality control to us:

Here is a small detail of the quality control process that one of our manufacturers carries out:

Quality policy: In our quality policy, it can be seen that quality is above all else. Our employees must comply with the regulations during processes and practices and cannot deviate from these regulations.

Explanation of laboratory data: Before the production and packaging of the next mixture, we send a sample of each product to the supplier for analysis. Once the testing is complete, you will be given your test result form. It is the responsibility of the Quality Assurance Department to interpret these results and judge whether the products have passed or failed the tests based on predetermined quality standards.

Continuous monitoring of production: Before packing any product, it is the responsibility of the Quality Assurance Department to check that the person in charge of packaging has received the correct product, boxes, seals, security seals and final products packed in cartons/boxes are flawless. It is also the responsibility of the Quality Assurance Department to verify the correct lot number and/or expiration date printed on the product and box labels, and to verify that other label information is accurate. The Quality Assurance Department is also responsible for ensuring that the relevant asset log is filled out correctly.

Distribution of products when they are placed on the market: As part of the manufacturing process, after the packaging of the portions is completed, the Quality Assurance Department sends a notification that the product is ready to be placed on the market. The Quality Assurance Department is responsible for checking that the number of products is the same as the quantity specified when the item was entered and that this number is within the specified range. The Quality Assurance Department is also responsible for checking the preparation of the appropriate delivery log and equipment log. When marketable we qualify the product , a member of the Quality Assurance Department signs the certification of the item that can be placed on the market and notifies the shipping/receiving department that the product is ready for distribution.

Summary

As you can see, Hammer Nutrition products participating in its production process is extremely complicated and believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg. We would also like to emphatically emphasize that the facilities where our products are made are buildings free of prohibited substances, i.e. cross-contamination is not possible either!

You can use Hammer Nutrition products with complete confidence , knowing that we have used the finest ingredients for each product and taken all necessary steps to produce the highest quality product. We could never do it any other way.