Independent Laboratories and Heavy Metal Tested Certification

When brands first ask about Heavy Metal Tested certification, one of the first questions is: which lab does the testing? It is a good question, and the answer explains a lot about how certification works.

Two separate jobs

Certification involves two different roles:

• The laboratory measures. It tests product samples and reports the levels of each metal, under its own quality system.
• The certification program evaluates. It compares those results with a published standard and decides whether the product qualifies for the Heavy Metal Certified mark.

Keeping those jobs separate matters. The brand does not grade its own results, the lab does not decide who gets certified, and the certification program does not run the instruments. Each check is independent of the others.

Heavy Metal Tested, run by the Paleo Foundation, is the certification program. It is not a laboratory.

What ISO/IEC 17025 means

ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. A lab accredited to it has been independently assessed on things like:

• Validated test methods
• Trained, qualified staff
• Calibrated equipment
• Quality control and proficiency testing
• Traceable, documented results

Heavy Metal Tested coordinates testing through qualified independent laboratories that meet this standard. That gives brands, retailers, and parents confidence that the numbers behind the mark are reliable.

What "independent" means

In this context, independent means the lab is not owned or controlled by the brand whose product is being tested. In-house labs are valuable for day-to-day quality control, but in-house results do not count toward certification.

What gets tested

The published standard covers eight metals:

• Lead
• Arsenic
• Cadmium
• Mercury
• Chromium
• Nickel
• Tin
• Aluminum

Limits are set by product subcategory, since a dry cereal, a puree, and a supplement are very different foods. The standards are published on Heavy Metal Certified.

What brands should bring

When you start a certification conversation, it helps to have:

• A list of the products you want to certify, with their formats (purees, cereals, snacks, drinks, supplements).
• Your current lab relationships, including whether those labs hold ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
• Recent lot data, if you have it. It helps you anticipate results, even though certification testing is separate.

Your existing lab reports

A certificate of analysis from an accredited lab is useful, and it is still a measurement report rather than a certification. It tells you what was in a sample. The Heavy Metal Certified mark means the product was evaluated against a published standard and licensed, with retesting every year. Lot testing vs certification.

FAQ

Is Heavy Metal Tested a laboratory? No. It is a certification program. Testing is done through qualified independent ISO/IEC 17025 laboratories.

Can we use our in-house lab? In-house results are useful for quality control, but certification testing must come from an independent laboratory.

Does an ISO/IEC 17025 lab report mean our product is certified? No. The report is a measurement. Certification requires evaluation against the published standard and licensing of the mark.

Which metals are tested? Lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, chromium, nickel, tin, and aluminum.

Does certification mean a product is safe? No. It means the product met a published standard when tested. It is not a safety guarantee.

Learn more

• What Heavy Metal Tested certification is
• Questions QA and regulatory teams ask
• Annual recertification

Next step

Own the lab relationship for a food or supplement line? Book a 30-minute call to see how certification testing would work for your products.