A manufacturer's guide to Good Manufacturing Practice — what GMP certification requires, how it protects your brand, and what questions to ask your contract manufacturer.
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is the gold standard of quality assurance in pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing. For brands choosing a contract manufacturer, GMP certification is not merely a nice-to-have — it is the minimum requirement for producing safe, consistent, and legally compliant products. This guide explains what GMP means in practice and why it matters for your brand.
GMP is a system of guidelines and controls that ensures products are consistently produced and controlled according to quality standards appropriate to their intended use. In the EU, food supplement manufacturing is governed by GMP principles derived from Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on food hygiene and, for higher-risk products, by pharmaceutical GMP standards (EU GMP Guidelines). GMP covers every aspect of production: personnel, premises, equipment, documentation, production processes, quality control, storage, and distribution.
A GMP-certified facility must demonstrate: documented standard operating procedures (SOPs) for every critical process; a validated cleaning and sanitation programme; environmental monitoring for temperature, humidity, and microbial contamination; full batch traceability from raw material receipt to finished product dispatch; a robust supplier qualification programme for all raw materials; and a quality management system that includes change control, deviation management, and CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action) processes.
GMP certification requires that finished products are tested by accredited laboratories before release. At Nuteo, every batch is tested by independent, accredited 3rd party laboratories — not internal QC alone. This independent verification provides an additional layer of assurance that the product meets its specification, is free from contaminants, and is safe for consumption. Test certificates are available for every batch produced.
When evaluating a contract manufacturer, ask: Which GMP standard are you certified to, and by which certification body? When was your last audit, and what was the outcome? Can you provide batch-specific certificates of analysis from accredited 3rd party laboratories? What is your raw material supplier qualification process? How do you handle deviations and out-of-specification results? A manufacturer that cannot answer these questions clearly and confidently is a risk to your brand.
Nuteo operates under GMP, ISO 22000 (Food Safety Management), ISO 9001 (Quality Management), and HACCP certification. Our quality management system is audited annually by independent certification bodies. Every batch produced at our facility is accompanied by a full certificate of analysis from an accredited 3rd party laboratory. We make our certification documentation available to all B2B partners on request.