Every claim on this site is attached to a batch number, because that is the only unit a laboratory can actually test. A brand cannot be tested. A batch can.
What accreditation means
A laboratory accredited by NABL to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 has been assessed on its methods, its equipment calibration, and its competence to run the specific tests listed on its certificate. The certificate has a scope and an expiry date, and both are worth checking ours are printed next to every report we publish.
Accreditation does not mean the laboratory checked everything. It means the things it did check were checked properly.
What a panel covers, and what it doesn't
A test panel is a list. Seven dyes on a report means seven dyes were looked for. It says nothing about an eighth.
This is the single most common way a clean-looking report misleads people, so on this site an untested parameter is rendered as its own state never folded in with the passes:
| Analyte | Method | Result | Limit | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looked for, and absent | HPLC | Not detected | Absent | Not detected |
| Measured, and under the limitAn illustrative value, not a result from any batch. | HPLC | 0.42 mg/kg | 10 mg/kg | Within limit |
| Not on the panelNo sample was analysed for this. | — | — | Not tested |
The middle row matters as much as the first. “Within limit” is a real measurement of something that is present in a permitted amount it is not the same claim as “not detected”, and we do not present them as though they were.
Reading a report yourself
Three things worth checking on any laboratory report, ours included:
- The batch and the dates. Does the batch on the report match the batch on the packet in your hand? Is the analysis date after the concern that prompted it?
- The parameter list. What was actually tested, and what is missing?
- The accreditation. Which body, which certificate number, and is it still valid?
Our published results are indexed by batch under Transparency, with the signed PDF attached to each one.