Laboratory test results help us in many facets of our everyday lives, like making sure water is safe to drink and food is safe to eat, along with health care, environmental monitoring, and more. It’s important to get this kind of information from accredited labs – establishments that perform assessments to assure everything from sanitization to employees’ technical knowledge is acceptable and recognize international standards of safety.
What is an Accredited Lab?
An accredited lab is one that has been through a thorough examination by ISO/IEC and meets the requirements for the safety standard 17025. For food labs, like the ones used for testing kratom, ISO/IEC will use an Accredited Body (AB) to perform the assessment procedures. Using such a lab goes in hand with vendors complying to GMP standards, rounding out their safety measures to promise clean product.
There are so many companies that rely on precise results. When a vendor goes through an accredited lab to test their products, it enhances public confidence knowing that the products are safe and product information is completely accurate.
Understanding the Basics of ISO/IEC 17025
ISO/IEC 17025 is the international standard for determining the competency of test results that all respected food labs adhere to. The International Organization of Standardization and International Electrotechnical Commission comprise ISO/IEC, a joint company that promotes high standards in the information and communication fields.
A lab that uses ISO/IEC will participate in Proficiency Testing programs. These are on-site assessments in which thorough examinations of management and quality systems happen. The assessments cover the 17025 requirements as well as records, staff proficiency and expertise, suitability and maintenance of equipment, validity of test methods and quality assurance of calibration data.
If you’re looking into 17025, you’ll usually see a number following a colon, like 17025:2005. As laboratories receive their audits from ISO/IEC, they’re updated to the latest version (year) of the standard requirements, which currently is 17025:2017.
Why Does Kratom Need Testing?
Kratom, the Southeast Asian tea we all love, contains alkaloids in its leaves, including mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine. Proper lab testing will determine the presence and percentages of these alkaloids. We also need to see every explicit detail of the contents in our products, to validate the identity of the constituent materials and make sure they’re free of contaminants such as microbials and heavy metals.
When the results meet or exceed our standards, we continue production with confidence that everything is as it’s supposed to be, staying consistent and up-to-date and getting you the product you asked for.
Closing
Check in with your vendor’s customer service team if you have questions about their lab results. There should always be a direct response, and vendors should be able to provide you with valid Certificates of Analysis from an accredited lab for the products you purchased. With so much going on in the governmental attempt to shine a negative light on kratom, proper procedures such as accurate lab testing for all batches sold is a responsibility the entire industry must embrace. It will also provide a better experience for kratom customers.
In a perfect world, we’d never have to worry about the quality of what goes in and on our bodies. Hate to break it to you, but this world is far from perfect. Luckily, we have these kinds of resources and use them for everybody’s benefit, ensuring consumer safety and dispelling any worries people might have.
