Ingredient Tracking

Part of Good Manufacturing Practices is tracking your ingredients. That involves knowing and tracking basic information on each ingredient from when you receive it to when you have used it up.

Purpose

The primary purpose of ingredient tracking is to give you control over your inventory and a way to track back your ingredients if needed. For example:

• If your supplier told you that the batch of lotion base you purchased had an issue with the preservative system and would likely go bad, you would want to be able to locate the remaining product you have and any products you made that used that base.
• If you had a batch of lotion that didn't work the way it should, possibly one of the ingredients was the culprit and not what it was supposed to be. You'd need to be able to locate any supply of that ingredient so you don't use it in another product, and you might want to contact the supplier regarding the problem.
• If you had a product that went bad and traced the issue back to a specific ingredient that had, itself, gone bad. In that case, you'd need to be able to locate and dispose of any unused inventory and track down any other products that used that same ingredient.

In all of these situations, you would have needed some way to locate the specific lot of the ingredient. If olive oil were the problem, you'd need to be able to track the exact container of olive oil, when and where you purchased it, and from whom.

Unique Lot Numbers

We tend to assume that each time we order an ingredient, it will be the same as the last order for that ingredient. We hope that both the manufacturer and supplier (if they are different) have their GMP fully in place and they are producing exactly the same product, every batch, every time, and any time we order that item it will be exactly what we got the last time. Unfortunately, that's not always the case.

The way to be able to track back a specific ingredient is to assign a unique lot number to each ingredient you receive.

You can use whatever numbering or identification system you want. It just needs to be workable and something you will keep up with. If you are going to keep your list in a spreadsheet, using leading 0's will force it to sort correctly. Some possibilities include:

Remember, you need to be able to identify each individual order, even if it is from the same supplier. If you purchase olive oil five times, it is five different lot numbers – even if you purchased the same brand from the same supplier.

Ingredient Log

Keep an Ingredient Log to record the ingredients you receive and the lot numbers assigned. Ideally, it would contain:

• Name of the ingredient
• Lot number assigned
• Source (supplier)
• Date received
• Expiration date
• Where stored

You can keep the log on paper or digital. You could have one log for all items or break it into different logs for different types of items.

Incoming Items

When you receive an order, sometimes the first inclination is to open it and immediately make something with it. However, before you use it (or put it on your shelves), there are some steps you should take.

1. Verify the item.

Make sure it is what you ordered and that it meets your quality standards. You may not have access to sophisticated analytical testing equipment, but you can still inspect visually or check the feel, consistency, and smell based on your own experience. If you have created an Ingredient Verification Checklist for the ingredient, complete it.

2. Assign a lot number

Assign a lot number to the incoming ingredient according to whatever system you have set up. Enter the lot number and ingredient details in your ingredient log.

3. Put the lot number on the ingredient package

Write the lot number on the ingredient package, either directly or with a sticker applied to the package. You could also put the expiration date on the package or sticker so you can easily see it. If you repackage the ingredient and put it in a different container, label the new container.

4. Sample (optional)

You can also take a small sample of the ingredient, label it with the lot number, and set it aside. Samples can come in handy if you have an issue after the ingredient has been used up.

5. Store

Store the ingredient appropriately.

Using Ingredients

When you use an ingredient in a batch of product, add the lot number to the batch record.