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Lab Testing Insights

Regulatory updates, testing guides, and quality assurance insights for supplement brands, cosmetic companies, and manufacturers.

Dietary Supplements

Herbal Supplement Manufacturing Checklist

A step-by-step herbal supplement manufacturing checklist covering botanical identity, potency, heavy metals, microbiology, and GMP before release.

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Dietary Supplements

What a Certificate of Conformance Means for Supplement Brands

Understand the difference between a certificate of conformance and a COA, FDA cGMP requirements for supplier documentation, and how to verify supplement quality.

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Chemical Testing

How to Analyse Pesticide Residues in Food and Supplements

Learn how pesticide residue analysis works, from FDA regulations and multi-residue methods to proficiency testing and compliance for dietary supplements and foods.

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Cosmetic Testing

ISO 11930 Preservative Efficacy Test for Cosmetics: What You Need to Know

Learn how the ISO 11930 challenge test evaluates antimicrobial protection in cosmetics, how it differs from other methods, and what brands must know to meet safety expectations.

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Dietary Supplements

USP <2021> vs USP <61>: Microbial Enumeration for Supplements

Compare the two key USP chapters for microbial enumeration, and learn which one applies to dietary supplement safety testing.

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Dietary Supplements

What Is a Certificate of Analysis (and Why It Matters for Supplement Quality)

A certificate of analysis is more than a piece of paper. Learn what a COA tells you, why supplier documents can mislead, and how to verify quality before you sell.

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Lab Insights

The Analytical Chemistry Hiring Crisis: What the Lab Technician Shortage Means for Supplement Testing

The growing shortage of skilled analytical chemists is reshaping contract testing labs. Here's what brands should know about turnaround times, quality, and how top labs are adapting.

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Lab Insights

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy for Incoming Raw Material Testing: Speed, Limits, and What It Still Can't Replace

NIR spectroscopy can verify raw material identity in 60 seconds — but it has real limits. Here's what supplement and cosmetic brands must know.

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Microbiology

Yeast and Mold Counts in Dietary Supplements: What Acceptable Limits Actually Look Like by Dosage Form

USP Chapter <1111> sets TYMC reference limits by dosage form — but most supplement brands don't know the number changes. Here's what it means for capsules, liquids, gummies, and botanicals.

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Dietary Supplements

Fish Oil Supplement Testing: Oxidation Rates, Potency Gaps, and the Contaminants Your COA Might Be Missing

Fish oil fails third-party testing more often than brands expect. Here's what TOTOX, EPA/DHA potency screens, and ICP-MS heavy metal analysis actually reveal.

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Amazon Compliance

How to Prepare a Certificate of Analysis That Passes Amazon's Third-Party Lab Review

Your COA can make or break your Amazon supplement listing. Here's exactly what Amazon's compliance team checks — and how to get documentation that passes the first time.

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Dietary Supplements

Natural GLP-1 Supplements Have a Pharmaceutical Adulteration Problem. Here's What Brands Need to Test For.

GLP-1 'natural' supplements are flooding the market — and standard testing panels can't catch the pharmaceutical adulterants labs are finding inside them.

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Dietary Supplements

High-Dose Biotin Supplements Are Disrupting Diagnostic Lab Tests. Here's What Supplement Brands Need to Understand.

High-dose biotin supplements disrupt diagnostic lab tests. FDA documented a patient death. Here's what your supplement brand needs to know about the risk.

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Cosmetic Testing

MoCRA Safety Substantiation in 2026: What to Expect from Your Cosmetic Testing Laboratory

MoCRA's safety substantiation requirement is now enforceable. Here's what your cosmetic testing laboratory should provide—and what US brands are still missing.

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Food Safety

Ethylene Oxide in Spices and Botanical Supplements: The Sterilization Contaminant US Brands Still Aren't Testing For

EtO contamination triggered over 1,000 EU RASFF recalls. US supplement brands sourcing botanical ingredients face the same risk — and most aren't testing for it.

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Food Safety

Functional Beverage Compliance Testing: What Energy Drinks, Nootropic Waters, and Adaptogen Shots Must Prove Before They Ship

Energy drinks, nootropic waters, and adaptogen shots face overlapping FDA food and supplement rules. Here's what compliance testing actually requires.

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Dietary Supplements

Ashwagandha Withanolide Testing: What '5% Standardized' Actually Means and How Labs Detect Adulteration

Most ashwagandha labels claim '5% withanolides' — but that number hides major variation. Learn how labs use HPLC and DNA barcoding to verify label claims.

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Lab Insights

Out-of-Specification Results in Supplement Testing: What FDA's cGMP Investigation Process Actually Requires

When a supplement test returns an OOS result, 21 CFR Part 111 requires a structured two-phase investigation. Here's what your lab must do.

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