Probably a dumb question but in powders with various ingredients (mela replacements, preworkout etc) in one large container, how do they ensure the ingredients are the right ratio in a serving? Is it the way they are mixed?
In other words, if you take a scoop of preworkout, how do you know you aren’t getting like 10 times the dose of caffeine and only 1/10 the amount of day creatine or whatever in a random scoop from the container?
Thanks!
It's not a dumb question at all. I can respect anyone trying to learn.
Improper blending is definitely a potential issue and cause for concern if companies aren't following the correct processes and procedures. I'm probably the person on this forum that talks the most about quality control in the industry and problems with some companies not using GMP compliant manufacturers and sometimes even capping/mixing products themselves with no quality control measures and oversight in place. Those cases can be scary because in those situations, things may not be mixed properly. But really in those situations, there probably hasn't been any testing done to begin with on what they're even supposed to be mixing anyway; so there's a whole other issue in play there as well.
^^^ My answer isn't related to them; but I'll answer for how its supposed to be done when done properly - which is another reason that its important to choose companies that are GMP compliant and only use contract manufacturers that are GMP compliant.
GMP compliant contract manufacturers use blenders that are designed specifically for the purpose of mixing dietary supplement and pharmaceutical ingredients. Most GMP compliant manufacturers are going to have at least 2 blenders in their facility - most commonly a smaller one for capsule runs and a larger one for powder runs. The concept and principal way that things are mixed are the same for both. The most common type that I can think of is a V blender.
Copy and pasted from a V Blender description site:
A V blender is a type of equipment that the pharmaceutical industry uses for various blending applications.
The primary reason V blender mixing is so critical for the pharmaceutical industry is because pharma companies must adhere to strict production guidelines. Included in that is extensive testing and quality assurance to ensure that all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. V blender mixing ensures the quality of the final product.
V Blender is one of the popular tumbler blender that are used in the pharmaceutical, chemical or food processing industry. Diffusion is the central mechanism of V blender mixing, which means that small-scale and random motions blends solid particles. As the movements of the blender increase, the individual particles separate and recombines which promotes diffusive blending. Without segmenting effects, in time, this results in a high level of homogeneity.
So that covers the equipment part but then there's also the testing part of things in that finished product samples should be sent out to independent labs for quality testing. Some companies test every single ingredient in each product per batch; but some don't for expense reasons, and the ones that don't should at least test for the stimulant content ingredients &/or any ingredients that could be harmful if dosed too high.
I hope that all makes sense and helps.