Phone No.
(780) 450-3957
Stability and quality testing helps natural health product manufacturers, supplement companies, importers and product developers evaluate how selected analytical characteristics change over time, through storage, and across product lots.
Depending on the product and quality objective, testing may include:
PBR Laboratories provides stability and quality testing support from Edmonton for applicable natural health products and supplements across Alberta, Western Canada and Canada.
The goal is not to collect test results without context. The testing plan should answer a defined question:
Is the product remaining within the analytical characteristics needed to support its quality, formulation, storage or shelf-life decision?
Stability and quality testing evaluates selected product characteristics over time or under defined storage conditions.
Depending on the product, testing may help answer questions such as:
The appropriate testing program depends on the product matrix, analytical parameters, storage conditions and decision the results must support.
Natural health products can change during storage.
Potential factors include:
The relevant risks vary by product.
A dry powder may have different stability concerns from a liquid formulation, botanical extract or capsule product.
That is why the program should focus on parameters that are meaningful for the specific product rather than applying the same test panel universally.
Moisture content measures the amount of water present in the submitted sample.
PBR’s documented capabilities include moisture testing for applicable matrices.
Moisture testing may support evaluation of:
Potential factors include:
A change in moisture does not automatically identify the source, but it can provide useful evidence for an investigation.
Water activity measures how available water is within a product for microbial growth and other reactions.
PBR’s service catalogue documents water activity testing for applicable matrices.
Testing may support:
Moisture content measures how much water is present.
Water activity describes how available that water is.
Two products can have similar moisture contents but different water activities.
That means moisture and water activity should not be treated as interchangeable measurements.
Microbiological testing can be used during stability or shelf-life programs where microbial quality is relevant to the product.
Depending on the matrix and specification, testing may include:
PBR also provides applicable testing using United States Pharmacopeia <61>, <62>, <2021> and <2022>.
PBR’s documented service catalogue supports these microbiological testing areas for applicable matrices.
Related Service: Natural Health Product Microbiology Testing →
Some stability or quality programs may need to monitor selected composition parameters over time.
Depending on the product and analytical objective, relevant parameters may include:
PBR’s documented analytical capabilities include these areas for applicable matrices.
The correct parameters should be selected based on the formulation and the question being investigated.
These terms are related but not always identical.
Stability testing evaluates whether selected physical, chemical, microbiological or compositional characteristics remain acceptable over time.
Shelf-life testing uses selected evidence to support decisions about how long a product remains acceptable under defined conditions.
A stability program may therefore contribute to shelf-life decisions, but the exact design should reflect the product, packaging, storage conditions and quality criteria.
PBR’s service framework already recognizes that shelf-life programs may use microbiology, water activity, moisture, pH or other relevant measures depending on the product.
There is no universal panel for every natural health product.
The program should be built around the product’s likely failure modes.
For example:
The correct panel should reflect the product rather than a generic testing template.
Real-time programs assess products over the intended storage period under defined conditions.
Accelerated programs use elevated or otherwise modified storage conditions to investigate product behaviour over a shorter period.
PBR’s current uploaded service documentation does not define a complete accelerated-stability service, chamber conditions or validated predictive model.
Speak with PBR about the product, storage conditions, analytical parameters and study objective to determine which testing components PBR can support.
Packaging can influence product stability.
Potential issues include:
Laboratory testing may help investigate whether selected product characteristics have changed.
For example:
Packaging change → Moisture or water activity changes → Microbiological or physical differences → Quality investigation
The testing plan should be designed around the suspected failure mode.
An unexpected result should be investigated in context rather than interpreted alone.
The review may need to consider:
The key question is:
Is the change real, and if so, what part of the product, process or storage system may explain it?
Additional testing should be selected to answer that question.
A formulation change can alter product behaviour.
Changes may include:
Testing can help compare:
Previous formulation → New formulation → Selected analytical parameters → Quality decision
Relevant measurements depend on the specific change.
Packaging changes may affect product exposure to moisture, air or environmental conditions.
Testing may be useful when:
The analytical program should focus on the product characteristics most likely to be affected.
Stability results are most useful when they are compared against defined product criteria.
A test result such as:
Water activity = X
or
Total aerobic microbial count = Y
becomes meaningful when the quality team knows:
This is consistent with PBR’s decision-first framework, which emphasizes interpretation against specifications rather than treating analytical values as isolated data.
Consistency in sampling is critical when results are compared across multiple time points.
Potential issues include:
Before starting a study, the plan should define:
PBR’s framework emphasizes planning sampling and retained units before testing begins.
Potential considerations include moisture, water activity, microbiology and selected composition parameters.
Relevant testing may include moisture, protein, microbiology and other selected nutritional parameters.
Potential considerations include moisture, microbiology and other ingredient-specific quality characteristics.
Stability monitoring may involve microbiology, moisture or other formulation-specific parameters.
Liquid products may require microbiological and composition monitoring depending on the formulation and storage program.
Testing should be selected according to the actual formulation and analytical parameters relevant to stability.
PBR Laboratories provides stability and quality testing support from Edmonton for natural health product manufacturers, supplement companies, brand owners and product developers.
The objective is to help clients move beyond:
“Did the number change?”
to:
“Does this change matter for the product, specification and next quality decision?”
That follows PBR’s established positioning.
Stability testing monitors selected product characteristics over time or under defined storage conditions. Depending on the product, testing may include moisture, water activity, microbiology, composition and other relevant quality parameters.
PBR’s documented capabilities include moisture, water activity, microbiological testing, nutritional and composition analysis and other selected analytical parameters for applicable matrices. The exact program should be based on the product and study objective.
Moisture measures how much water is present in a sample. Water activity evaluates how available that water is for microbial growth and other reactions. They provide different information.
Yes, where microbiological quality is relevant to the product and study objective. Depending on the matrix and specification, testing may include total aerobic microbial count, yeast and mould and specified microorganisms.
Not exactly. Stability testing monitors product characteristics over time. Shelf-life decisions use relevant stability and other product-quality information to determine an appropriate period under defined storage conditions.
PBR’s current uploaded service documentation does not define a complete accelerated-stability program or validated accelerated-study conditions. Clients should discuss the product, storage conditions and analytical requirements with PBR to determine what testing components can be supported.
It may be useful during product development, after formulation or packaging changes, during investigation of unexpected product changes, or when selected quality characteristics need to be monitored over time.
Review the time point, storage conditions, packaging, formulation, ingredient history, sampling and analytical information before deciding which follow-up testing is appropriate.
Testing can help compare the previous formulation with the new formulation against selected analytical parameters to support a quality decision. Relevant measurements depend on the specific change such as ingredient substitution or concentration change.
Packaging changes may affect product exposure to moisture, air or environmental conditions. The analytical program should focus on the product characteristics most likely to be affected by the packaging changes (e.g. moisture ingress, oxygen exposure).
Yes. PBR provides laboratory testing support from Edmonton for clients throughout Alberta, Western Canada and Canada.