Most GMP violations involve setting & documenting specifications

Warning Letter Wednesday reviews a cGMP manufacturing warning letter. This is a good teaching case about the basics of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) for dietary supplements as this company made some of the most common mistakes.

Regulatory expert Steven Yeager and I discuss “How to Prepare for FDA Inspections” in the following webinar. We’ve both helped oversee several FDA CFR 111 inspections with no warning letters and we have fun sharing our helpful tips and hints. 

Steven and I also presented a four-hour GMP and marketing compliance workshop here at the American Herbalists Guild.

This letter includes the most common violation of not establishing and documenting specifications for the identity, purity, strength, and composition. Another common mistake is not having documentation showing a member of the quality team approved specifications and product labels. This role of quality is at the core of GMPs. Imagine the mix-ups and potential adulteration that could occur if the production team was allowed to apply labels without oversight. We recently saw this happen in a CBD company that inadvertently applied CBD labels to the THC product which resulted in serious adverse events.

Another important reminder is the requirement to list the plant parts such as leaves or fruit.

Also noted is the requirement to have proper Supplement Fact Panel line thickness and bolding. Although these will not attract a warning letter on their own it is better to have a correct label layout.

There are so many more violations listed in this letter and I suggest reading the full warning letter here. 

It is interesting to look at the timelines in this warning letter. The inspection was in May of 2021 when a 483 was issued but the warning letter was not issued until six months later. This gave the company plenty of time to correct the 483 and avoid a letter. Learn more about the difference between 483’s and warning letters here. 

The very big surprise is the FDA didn’t appear to review the company’s website before the inspection. Normally, the best thing a company can do to prepare for a GMP inspection is to remove all high-risk online marketing claims as FDA investigators review websites and social media before the inspection. This company is very lucky as they still have LOTS of high-risk website claims. This is a strong risk for a repeat warning letter.

Learn more about “Reasons to Avoid “Warning Letters” here.