CSTL supports the food industry by providing reference measurements and reference standards for quality assurance and to help ensure compliance with nutritional labeling regulations. CSTL provides robust metrological traceability for nutrients in food products, contaminants and adulterants in food products, detection of genetic modifications in food products, and chemical composition and contaminants in dietary supplements/nutraceuticals. More than 50% of the US population uses dietary supplements, accounting for roughly $10 billion in sales every year.

Projects in this Area:

       FY 2006

• Highly Accurate Measurement of Plant Genomic DNA to Improve Genetic Identity Testing of U.S. Export Grains
• Development of SRMs for Botanical Dietary Supplements
• Carrot Extract Standard Reference Material
• Ginkgo biloba Dietary Supplement Standard Reference Materials
• NIST Develops Serum-Based Standard Reference Materials to Assess Nutritional Status
• Development of Multivitamin/Multielement Dietary Supplement SRM

       FY 2005

• Development of Primary Methods for Determining the Mass of Nucleic Acids
• Ginkgo biloba Dietary Supplement Standard Reference Materials
• Development of Multivitamin/Multielement Dietary Supplement SRM and SRMs to Assess Nutritional Status
• Development of SRMs for Botanical Dietary Supplements