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Nazmul Alam PhD

— Writing

Essays on analytical chemistry, methods, and careers in industry.

All essays

  2. The front-of-pack "high in" symbol: the lab numbers behind it

    Canada's front-of-package nutrition symbol became mandatory on January 1, 2026. The thresholds (15%, 10% and 30% of the Daily Value), which quantity of food they apply to, how rounding is handled, which foods are exempt, and what the lab result has to show.

    Industry

    Oct 2026

    5 min

  3. Real-time stability for natural health products: what GMP version 4 asks for

    Health Canada's NHP GMP guide version 4, in force since March 4, 2026, requires a completed stability study for every NHP marketed in Canada, real-time studies to confirm any extrapolated shelf life, and expiry dates counted from the date of manufacture. What that means for the testing calendar, accelerated data, bulk hold times and out-of-trend results.

    Validation

    Oct 2026

    5 min

  8. What a Health Canada inspector writes up in a QC lab

    Health Canada publishes the GMP observations its inspectors classify as critical, major and other. A chromatographer's reading of the ones that apply to a QC or contract testing lab, grouped by what they mean at the bench.

    Industry

    Oct 2026

    6 min

  9. What ISO 17025 accreditation costs a small Canadian lab

    CALA's published fees for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, worked through for a lab with five methods, and the costs the fee schedule does not show: the standard, proficiency testing, reference materials, calibration, uncertainty work and staff time.

    Validation

    Oct 2026

    4 min

  11. logP, logD or pKa: which one your assay actually needs

    Three numbers that get used interchangeably and answer different questions. What each one is, how they are related, and which of them your method development or your discovery screen actually depends on.

    Method development

    Oct 2026

    5 min