The LTF Standard

Almost every “lab tested” claim you see online is self-published. A brand runs a test, gets a PDF back, and posts it on their own site. You're asked to trust three things at once: that the document is real, that it describes the product you're about to buy, and that it's the only result the brand got back.

Right now there's no easy way for a buyer to check any of that.

The LTF Standard is our attempt to fix it. Not with a score or a seal, but by stating plainly what has actually been checked on every product we list, and by whom.

We want to be direct about this, because a transparency company that oversells its own rigor has no business existing.

Every Certificate of Analysis currently on this site is unverified.

COAs reach us three ways:

• From brands and suppliers we work with.
• Sent to us directly by the brand.
• Collected from public sources — meaning we found a COA published on a brand's own website and hosted or linked it.

In all three cases we're passing along a document the brand produced or published. We don't currently confirm these results with the lab that issued them. We haven't called the lab. We haven't checked that the document matches the lab's records. We haven't confirmed the lot number matches what's sitting on the shelf.

So everything on LTF today sits at the first rung of the ladder below: On File. That's more than you'd otherwise get, since you're reading the actual document instead of a marketing claim. But it isn't independent verification and we're not going to call it that.

Here's where we're going, and what each step will actually prove.

This part matters as much as the ladder does.

A missing badge is not a failing grade. The two brand-facing tiers — Authenticated and LTF Commissioned — are opt-in, and results that don't pass don't get published. The brand can fix the problem and test again. So no badge could mean the product was never tested, or the brand didn't want to participate, or a result got held back. We can't tell you which, and we won't pretend otherwise.

That's exactly why the Independently Tested tier exists. It's the only one where we choose the sample, we pay, and we publish whatever comes back. As that program grows it's what gives every tier underneath it weight.

A badge is not a health claim. It describes what a specific test found in a specific lot on a specific date. It isn't a nutrition endorsement, a safety guarantee, or a claim that something is good for you.

A COA describes one lot, tested on one day. It doesn't describe a product forever.

Contaminant levels — heavy metals especially — move around between production runs depending on ingredient sourcing, harvest season, and supplier changes. A clean result from 2023 tells you very little about the jar on the shelf today.

• Every badge shows the test date and lot number. Never just “clean,” always “tested on this date, from this lot.”
• Badges visibly age, and expire after twelve months.
• An expired badge grays out and stays that way until a newer result comes in.
• In the Independently Tested program we plan to re-pull products from shelves over time rather than testing once and walking away.

A brand that tested honestly two years ago isn't being accused of anything. Their result is just old, and we'd rather show you that than hide it.

You should be able to see our incentives.

Today we earn affiliate commission when you buy through a link on this site, and referral fees for connecting brands with testing labs.

Going forward brands will be able to pay for testing through the Commissioned program, and we intend to fund the Independent program ourselves out of memberships.

The rules we hold ourselves to:

• Brands can pay for a test. Brands cannot pay for a result. No fee moves an outcome, a grade, or a tier.
• Nobody can pay to take down a published finding.
• Affiliate relationships have nothing to do with verification. In our system, commercial listings and verification records are stored and calculated separately, so a badge is derived only from test data and can't be swayed by whether a product carries an affiliate link. That's enforced by how the thing is built, not just by a promise.
• Badge tiers are calculated, not handed out. A badge is a function of the verification method, the test date, and the lot. It isn't a field someone can set by hand, and every change to a verification record is logged.

We're publishing the LTF Standard as a public, versioned spec: the tier definitions, the freshness rules, and the criteria behind every badge — so anyone can audit it, argue with it, or adopt it.

We don't think the methodology should be the secret. If other platforms want to hold themselves to the same ladder, the whole category gets better and we're glad to have written it down.

Questions about a result, or a correction to send us? Get in touch. If you're a brand that already tests and wants to be listed, that page will point you at the right form.

Browse the directory to see what the On File tier looks like in practice.