Do you know where your vitamin supplements come from? Is it really important to trace and know how these vitamins are being made and the ingredients that they are made of?
These questions may not have crossed your mind ever nor anyone have given you an idea to ask. But when we give some time to think of it, it does make sense and worthwhile to be informed where these products we intake come from.
1. We are what we eat.
2. We spend hard-earned money on these products.
3. What we take in may not only have an impact to our current state but also to our future well being.
The sad truth is that many Filipinos share the same problem. Financial constraints and busy lifestyles have caused nearly 54% of Filipino households to experience food insecurity, data from the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) showed.
These households experience limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, which hinders them from consuming the ideal serving of fruits and vegetables needed for a proper diet and lifestyle. These ultimately lead to poor nutrition and health problems. In the forum hosted by Nutrilite in Amway Head Office in Makati, Mr. Robby Tan, Science Research Specialist at DOST-FNRI, talked about these situations.
Watch the video of the forum here:
Names from L-R: Mr. Robby Tan, Science Research Specialist at DOST-FNRI; Dr. Mark Mariñas, General Surgeon and Amway Business Owner; Maria Elenita Olmedo, Country Manager of Amway Philippines; Pauline Batan, Assistant Product Category Manager for Wellness at Amway Philippines
Nutrilite™ also knows that when it comes to supplementation, it’s important to know where the ingredients in each product comes from, through traceability. “Food safety is a real concern because what we ingest is ultimately absorbed by our bodies, which is why we take it seriously. Consumers should have the right to know the story behind their products because their health depends on the products they buy. It isn’t simply placing it on a label, it’s about letting them know and have the peace of mind,” said Country Manager Leni Olmedo.
“Traceability helps ensure that all the people involved in producing and manufacturing the ingredients that go into our products are following strict rules for health, safety and quality. It helps us guarantee that we are providing not only the safest products, but also ones that are pure and effective,” Olmedo added.
While other companies are only starting to spread awareness and become conscious about the source of their ingredients, traceability has been a fundamental part of the Nutrilite™ brand for over 80 years.
Today, Nutrilite™ highlights its 9-step traceability process, or “Behind the Label” approach. This contains information not just about traceability but gives information on its heritage and the key ingredient for its supplements – phytonutrients, each with a unique phytonutrient fingerprint or signature that contains a broad spectrum of nutrients closer to a natural spectrum found in whole fruits and vegetables.
“Traceability has always been the core of Nutrilite. In the 40s, our founder Carl Rehnborg bought a farm in Southern California so he could learn to grow plants without pesticides and herbicides. This allowed him to develop his own farming practice, which has been adapted by Nutrilite,” said Assistant Brand Category Manager Pauline Kaye Batan.
“It’s been this way for over 80 years, and will continue to be so in the coming years as Nutrilite™ traceability starts on our own farms and our partner locations,” she added.
The traceability process not only shows the journey from seed to supplement, but its farms as well. Nutrilite™ is the only global vitamin and mineral brand to grow, harvest, and process plants on their own certified organic farms.*
Compared to industry requirements, Nutrilite’s standards are rigorous. For the brand, it is important to find a way to use technology to show the story behind their products. It isn’t just tracing the source of ingredients or materials one level up and down. It is also looking at all stages of an ingredient from beginning to end.
“As a global company, we wanted to show consumers that all our products go through the same standards of purity, safety, effectiveness, and quality. Nutrilite can show you the people, places, and processes behind each product it makes. At the end of the day, we just want consumers to feel confident about what they consume,” said Olmedo.
*Source: Euromonitor International Limited, www.euromonitor.com/amway-claims
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