There are three types of Certificates of Analysis (COAs).

 

1. Outsourced Laboratory Tested products (often referred to as "third party lab testing") are sent to a "third party" laboratory for testing by the company that manufactures the finished product(s) and/or the brand owner. Unfortunately, the finished products that are sent to the laboratory by the manufacturer to be tested are not always the same finished product that get distributed to the public. Additionally, when a product fails laboratory testing, the manufacturer may still choose to distribute the failed lot of product in an attempt to avoid the loss of funds that would otherwise be absorbed should the products be appropriately discarded. Often, these products are sold at a significantly reduced price to vendors who are strictly financially motivated, without a Certificate of Analysis (COA) or with a COA that does not designate a batch or lot number.

2. In-house Laboratory Tested products (often referred to as "lab tested") are not sent to a "third party" laboratory and are instead tested, in-house, by the manufacturer and/or brand owner. These "lab tests" tend to be extremely limited and often do not test for heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents, and other toxin levels. If a manufacturer is sharing the laboratory results of an in-house tested product to consumers as a valid COA, consumers are strongly advised to avoid these products for their strong potential of being a high risk to public health.

3. Unbiased Third Party Laboratory Tested products (only referred to as "unbiased third party lab tested") are third party laboratory tests paid for by an unbiased company, that does not have any financial interests in the product's brand. Blaze Therapeutics is currently the only unbiased third party distribution company with an unbiased third party laboratory testing quality assurance program, termed Responsible Distribution, dedicated to preventing the distribution of fraudulent and/or toxic holistic branded products and dietary supplements from being distributed to consumers on the open market.

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NOTE: Outsourced lab testing is often misleadingly referred to as "Third Party" Laboratory Testing by manufacturers and brand owners. Please note that Unbiased Third Party Laboratory Testing and Third Party  Laboratory Testing are two completely different testing methods.