WHAT DOES USP MEAN?
The abbreviation USP stands for United States Pharmacopeia, a document first published in 1820 by the Medical Society of New York State. Recognized as official by Congress in 1848, this document was used as a standard reference by physicians for prescribing medicines.
Today, the USP includes chemical descriptions, identifying tests, and purity tests, primarily for active ingredients. All materials listed in the USP are considered drugs by law and subject to all the U.S. Food & Drug Administration requirements pertaining to drugs. Labeling a product or a substance as USP implies that it conforms to all the legal requirements of the FDA and that it was produced in accordance with the principles outlined in FDAs Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). A new edition of the USP is published every five years in the years ending in "0" and "5," with ongoing revisions and additions issued during the interim years.
Many other nations also have compiled an official national pharmacopeia, similar in scope and content to the USP. Currently, there is a collaborative international program to harmonize the glycerin monographs in the USP and in the European Pharmacopeia, which may later be expanded to include other nations.
The abbreviation USP stands for United States Pharmacopeia, a document first published in 1820 by the Medical Society of New York State. Recognized as official by Congress in 1848, this document was used as a standard reference by physicians for prescribing medicines.
Today, the USP includes chemical descriptions, identifying tests, and purity tests, primarily for active ingredients. All materials listed in the USP are considered drugs by law and subject to all the U.S. Food & Drug Administration requirements pertaining to drugs. Labeling a product or a substance as USP implies that it conforms to all the legal requirements of the FDA and that it was produced in accordance with the principles outlined in FDAs Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). A new edition of the USP is published every five years in the years ending in "0" and "5," with ongoing revisions and additions issued during the interim years.
Many other nations also have compiled an official national pharmacopeia, similar in scope and content to the USP. Currently, there is a collaborative international program to harmonize the glycerin monographs in the USP and in the European Pharmacopeia, which may later be expanded to include other nations.