What QA and regulatory teams ask about Heavy Metal Tested

Quality, regulatory, and compliance people do not arrive at a certification conversation looking for a slogan. They arrive with a file: lot reports, a statute they already own, a pack calendar, and a legal reviewer who will ask what the on-pack mark actually licenses. This page is written for that reader.

It is not a sales script. It is not a laboratory-shopping list. It does not name laboratories. It does not publish limits. It does not say a product is safe. Inference only: these are the questions teams in Quality, QA, Regulatory, Compliance, Food Safety, Legal, Product, and Operations actually bring.

The identity question, first

Heavy Metal Tested is an independent Paleo Foundation certification that evaluates food, supplement, and consumer products against a published standard and licenses a mark to products that meet it.

That sentence is the program. It is a certification program, not a laboratory. Testing is coordinated through a qualified independent ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory. The Heavy Metal Certified mark is licensed only to products that meet the published subcategory standard. Certification is valid one year, with annual retesting. If a product does not meet the published standard, the mark is not licensed.

Read what Heavy Metal Tested certification is and how independent laboratories sit inside the program.

Questions we hear in the first conversation

Is this another laboratory? No. The program does not run instruments or issue a laboratory report under its own name. A qualified independent ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory produces the measurement. The certification program decides whether that measurement supports a licensed mark.

We already test lots. Why would we certify? Lot testing is measurement. Certification is a licensing decision against a published standard. Parents cannot audit a PDF on a shelf. Reviewers can look up a standard. Those are different surfaces. See lot testing versus certification. Certification does not replace incoming inspection, finished-product monitoring, or any statutory testing-and-disclosure duty.

Does the mark mean the product is safe? No. The program does not claim that a product is safe. Detection is not the same as a certification decision, and a certification decision is not a medical conclusion.

Does this replace a statute or a buyer program? No. It is a voluntary certification. It does not satisfy, replace, or discharge a testing-and-disclosure law. It does not make a product approved or preferred by a government agency. Statutory files stay with the brand.

What if the product does not meet the standard? The mark is not licensed. That outcome is the program working. It is not a reason to invent an absence claim, and it is not a finding that the product is unsafe. The program does not use either of those sentences.

How long does a license last? Certification is valid one year, with annual retesting. Last year's mark is not this year's mark.

Can we use Paleo or Keto history as proof? No. Other Paleo Foundation programs are not evidence for Heavy Metal Tested.

Where do we start: an application packet? No. The first step is an eligibility conversation. Eligibility is not an application and not a close. Details live on applying for eligibility.

How teams usually split ownership

Regulatory owns statutes and disclosure. Quality owns the measurement system. Brand and legal own any on-pack claim. Certification is a claim-control tool. It sits on top of a quality system as a licensed claim, or it does not sit at all.

The process, when a SKU is in scope: apply; coordinate testing through a qualified independent ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory; license the Heavy Metal Certified mark to products that meet the published subcategory standard; recertify annually with retesting.

Language reviewers will reject

• An absence claim.
• A statement that the product is safe.
• A brand-wide halo when only named SKUs were evaluated.
• Any implication that a government agency requires this certification.
• Treating a QR dump or a lot COA as if it were the mark.

If the pack needs a free-of line, this program is not the fit.

FAQ

Who is this page for? Quality, QA, Regulatory, Compliance, Food Safety, Legal, Product, and Operations people at US infant, child, and family food brands, and teams working children's dietary supplement SKUs.

Is Heavy Metal Certified a laboratory? No. It is a certification program.

Is this voluntary? Yes. No government agency requires this certification.

How do we start? A 30-minute eligibility conversation. It is not an application and not a close.

Next step

If you own quality, regulatory, or compliance for a US infant, child, family food, or children's supplement line, book a 30-minute eligibility conversation. Bring the SKU list and the questions on this page. We will talk about whether a published subcategory standard and a licensed mark are in scope.