We send each supplement to an independent laboratory every year since 2005. For several years now, the laboratory has been NutriControl, which specializes in the analysis of food and dietary supplements. The laboratory tests our supplements for pollutants such as arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead (heavy metals) and fungi and bacteria (microbiology). All the results are published on our website. See the list below for the latest test results.
The safety of dietary supplements depends on the selection of ingredients. We therefore always look for the most highly regarded suppliers. Although we have great faith in our suppliers, we carry out independent testing as well in order to verify for ourselves that the safety is assured. So that we in turn can guarantee safety to our customers.
All these years the results have been very good. Since 2005 there has never been a result in which the product did not comply with legal requirements. The concentrations of pollutants are always far below the limit (tens to hundreds of times lower). Usually they are so low that they cannot even be detected with the extremely sensitive laboratory equipment.
For us, this repeatedly confirms that we have made the right choice of suppliers.
Read below how to interpret the results.
Explanation of the test results:
Heavy metals
The concentrations of the heavy metals arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead are usually so low during the tests that they cannot even be detected with the extremely sensitive laboratory equipment. If the values are below the detectable limit, the test result is '<' or 'less than'. In reality the value is usually several times lower still.
Legal requirement for heavy metals:
- For arsenic + cadmium + lead + mercury, the maximum total content is 10 mg/kg or 10 ppm (parts per million).
Example of a good test result:
- Arsenic: < 0.1 mg/kg
- Cadmium: < 0.05 mg/kg
- Mercury: 0.01 mg/kg
- Lead: < 0.05 mg/kg
For this result, the total sum is less than 0.21 mg/kg, which is one-fiftieth of the permitted level. But since the values are all below the detectable limit, the actual concentrations are probably several times lower.
Microbiology
The results of the microbiological profile, the pollution due to fungi and bacteria, also show that the concentrations are often lower than the detectable limit of the sophisticated laboratory equipment.
Legal requirement for the microbiological profile:
- Aerobic plate count: less than 10,000 colony-forming units (CFU) per gram
- Escherichia coli plate count: absent/below detectable limit
- Yeasts & moulds plate count: less than 300 CFU per gram
- Salmonella: absent/below detectable limit
Example of a good test result:
- Aerobic plate count: 200 CFU/g
- Escherichia coli plate count: < 10 CFU/g
- Yeasts & moulds plate count: < 10 CFU/g
- Salmonella: absent/below detectable limit