Quality Control
When you’re passionate about your job, top-notch quality is quick to follow. This is the case for Dr. Harald Schuhbaum, the head of quality control at Bionorica. For this 35-year-old PhD in pharmacy science, his passion for nature and its healing properties run deep.
Dr. Schuhbaum completed his doctoral thesis on the effects of ginger extracts and the anti-inflammatory properties of these extracts. To sum up his passion for plants and their healing effects, Dr. Schuhbaum says, "Plants are extraordinarily complex. The sheer multiplicity of their molecules is a real challenge."
So what does the head of quality control do at Bionorica? Really this question should be re-phrased to read: what doesn’t the head of quality control not do? Suffice it to say, this position has Dr. Schuhbaum busy and fully involved in all operations of the company.
His primary responsibility is to ensure that all raw materials (herbs and plants), secondary ingredients, and extracts are thoroughly tested for effectiveness and safety.
Dr. Schuhbaum and his team are working diligently to answer the following questions about all herbs, plants and ingredients:
- Do the raw materials contain the necessary ingredients?
- Do they only contain the substance that nature provided them with?
- Are the auxiliary products that Bionorica uses of the best quality?
- Do the finished extracts meet the prescribed specifications?
- Does the finished supplement or product meet the necessary requirements?
To ensure this high level of quality a number of tests are performed including verifying that the color and odor of the herbs and plants is correct. Additionally more extensive laboratory tests are completed to guarantee that the ingredients used in Bionorica products are 100 per cent natural and of the upmost quality. This includes for example using the processes such as high performance liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography.
This extensive testing, says Dr. Schuhbaum, means that Bionorica often “deliberately exceeds the legal requirements. We do this because we want to provide customers – and ourselves – with the highest level of safety.”
Once the testing process is complete, the next phase comes in – the paperwork must be done. Working with his team of 20 colleagues, Dr. Schuhbaum ensures that all product literature, sales material, and legal documents are correct and valid.
To sum up this passion for quality that lies at the heart of the essence of Bionorica, one only has to hear Dr. Schuhbaum talk about his devotion to quality control. "We work on the basis that we deliver quality; we do not create quality by just testing for it."
