Requesting and Qualifying Ingredient Samples

A sample is only useful if it represents what you will receive at volume. Ask which batch the sample came from and request that batch's COA alongside it.

Define your acceptance criteria before the sample arrives. Deciding what good looks like after seeing a result invites the wrong kind of flexibility.

Run the sample through the process step that worries you most — the capsule filler, the tablet press, the dissolution test — rather than only through analytical testing.

Where the outcome will drive a large commitment, third-party verification can be arranged pre-shipment. It is a normal request and a reasonable supplier will accommodate it.

Record what you tested and against which lot. The next time a batch behaves differently, that record is what turns a dispute into a diagnosis.