In 2009, Dr Alan Howard began working with Dr John Nolan and his team at the Waterford Institute of Technology in South East Ireland, investigating the beneficial effects of nutritional supplementation with three macular carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin). While conducting MOST (Meso-zeozanthin Ocular Supplementation Trials), the team noticed some surprising results. Rather than suspecting an error in the analysis, Dr Howard suggested testing the supplements that were being used. This led to the realisation that supplements may not actually contain what manufacturers say they should contain and that this amount may also decline over time. John Nolan remembers “This was the turning point when we really started to care about the formulations and what was in the supplements.“
This led to the team continually testing the supplementations that they use in their clinical trials and in May 2021, the Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) announced the creation of a certification process to enforce carotenoid and omega-3 quality control.
On 18th April 2024, Supplement Certified ( www.supplementcertified.ie ), now a campus company at SETU (South East Technological University) in Waterford, Ireland announced its recent accreditation under ISO/IEC 17025:2017 by the Irish National Accreditation Board (INAB). ISO/IEC 17025:2017 is an internationally recognized standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. This accreditation underscores Supplement Certified’s commitment to ensuring the highest standards of quality and safety in the dietary supplement industry.
Professor John Nolan, founder of the Nutrition Research Centre Ireland (NRCI) and co-founder of Supplement Certified, says “Over the past 25 years, the Howard Foundation has supported research work to show the beneficial use of targeted supplementation. It’s important to be able to demonstrate that these important nutrients are provided at the highest possible level of quality. This is where Supplement Certified comes in.“
