Introduction - FDA issued a guidance document in May 2007 that recommends that pharmaceutical manufacturers, repackers, and other suppliers of glycerin, and pharmacists who engage in drug compounding ensure that the glycerin they buy, sell, or use is not contaminated with diethelyene glycol (DEG), a poison. The FDA guidance also recommends specific analytical test methods that include a limit test for DEG.

While the FDA guidance focuses on the pharmaceutical industry, this may also concern many in the dietary supplement industry who use glycerin in extracts and other products.

• FDA's press release of May 4, 2007, FDA Advises Manufacturers to Test Glycerin for Possible Contamination: Glycerin Contaminated with Diethylene Glycol (DEG) Remains a Potential Health Hazard to Consumers
• AHPA announcement of May 8, 2007, FDA Urges Testing Glycerin for Possible Contamination

Guidance & Methods of Analysis

• FDA's Guidance for Industry on Testing of Glycerin for Diethylene Glycol (May 2007)
• Article in the Journal of AOAC International (Kenyon 1998), this links to FDA's posting of an article that describes a rapid, inexpensive thin-layer chromatographic (TLC) method that separates DEG from glycerin and other glycols.