How We Test Every Batch: Our Quality Assurance Process

Here's how it works and why we do it.

The testing we do

The moment a batch arrives for processing, a representative sample is taken and sent to a third-party lab. The batch doesn't get freeze-dried until we have results back confirming it's clean.

Our test panel covers five main areas: heavy metals, bacterial contamination, pathogenic testing, amino acid profile verification, and moisture content. It costs roughly 600-800 pounds per batch. With 8 to 12 batches per month, that's a significant expense.

Most supplement companies accept a lower testing frequency because the cost adds up. We accept the cost because the alternative is accepting the risk that a batch might contain something it shouldn't.

Testing every batch isn't a marketing point. It's basic due diligence when you're recommending something people eat.

Heavy metals screening

Organs naturally concentrate minerals. That's what makes them valuable as food. But they also concentrate heavy metals if they're present in the environment or feed.

Lead, cadmium, and mercury are the primary concerns. All three can accumulate in organ tissue, particularly liver and kidneys. A freeze-dried organ supplement concentrates whatever was in the original tissue by a factor of 4 to 8 (you're removing water, not the minerals).

We test for lead, cadmium, mercury, and arsenic using ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), the established analytical method for trace heavy metals in foods.¹ This detects elements at the parts-per-billion level. We require results below the stricter of either FDA or California Proposition 65 limits for the relevant heavy metals.³

Heavy metals don't always show up at dangerous levels, but when they do, they're concentrated exactly where they need to be removed. Any batch failing this test is rejected entirely. We don't redistribute it or try to dilute it. It goes.

One heavy-metal batch out of a thousand isn't a one-in-a-thousand problem. It's a hundred-percent problem for the person who got it.

Bacterial and pathogenic contamination

Organs from the abattoir can carry pathogens. E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria. Most are killed during processing and freeze-drying, but some can survive if conditions weren't right.

We test for total aerobic bacteria, E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes. Results must be below detection limit (less than 10 CFU/g for most pathogens). A single positive result is a fail.

This is particularly important because organ supplements are often taken by people with compromised immune systems (pregnant women, elderly, ill patients) or in very high quantities (someone taking liver powder daily). The bar is high for good reason.

Some batches come back with very low levels of common bacteria (a few hundred CFU/g of total aerobic count). This is normal and not a concern. But pathogens are different. Zero tolerance.

Amino acid verification

Here's where our testing gets granular. We verify that the amino acid profile matches what we claim on the label. Not approximately. Specifically.

Liver powder should be high in lysine, methionine, and other amino acids. If a batch is showing lower amino acid counts than expected, it tells us something: the organs might have come from malnourished animals, or there was degradation during processing, or the sample we received wasn't actually liver.

We use HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) to quantify amino acids. Every batch gets tested. The results either match our expected profile or the batch is held for investigation.

This level of verification is rare in the supplement industry. Most brands trust their suppliers and don't verify. We verify because trust isn't enough.

You can't claim something is in your product and mean it unless you've actually measured it.

Third-party independence

All testing is done by external labs with ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, the international standard for testing laboratory competence.² We don't test our own products. We send samples to labs we have no financial interest in, and they send us results we can't manipulate.

This matters because supplement companies can pressure internal labs to be lenient. External labs have no reason to be lenient with us. If we fail, we fail cleanly.

We receive certificates of analysis (COAs) that are dated, signed, and specific to the batch. You can request the COA for your specific batch if you want to see exactly what was tested and what passed.

Some of our customers do this. They want to know the metal levels, the bacterial counts, the amino acid profiles of their specific product. We like this. It means they're paying attention.

The cost of doing this right

Testing every batch means we can't compete on price with brands that test sporadically or not at all. A competitor testing 10% of batches has a 90% cost advantage over us on quality control.

We've chosen not to compete on price. We compete on honesty. Testing everything is part of that.

It also means our timelines are longer. A batch takes 2 to 3 weeks from arrival to final product because we're waiting for test results. Shortcuts would get products to market faster. We don't take shortcuts.

The reality is simple: most supplement companies make their money by moving product fast. We make our money by moving product people can trust. Those are different models.

The cost of testing every batch is real. It's the price of being able to say we've actually verified what we're selling.

Why third-party testing matters

We use third-party laboratories, not internal testing, because it removes the conflict of interest. An internal lab can justify results that an external lab might flag. A third-party lab has no reason to favour us. If a batch fails their testing, we have to pull it. There's no political negotiation.

This costs more. External testing adds significant expense to every batch. We pass that cost to customers. We think it's necessary because it removes the incentive to pass a borderline batch.

Heavy metals accumulation is one reason this matters. Lead, cadmium, and mercury bioaccumulate in organ tissue. An animal raised on soil with historical lead contamination (like old orchard land) or in an area with industrial pollution can carry elevated levels. Testing catches this before the batch ships. Without testing, you wouldn't know until problems emerge.

Testing that you can't fake is expensive. It's also the only testing worth doing.

Every batch is tested for bacterial contamination (especially pathogenic E. coli and Listeria), for heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic), and for amino acid profile verification. The testing takes time. The batch sits in holding whilst results come back. This slows our turnover and increases costs. We accept this constraint because without it, the product isn't trustworthy.

What happens if a batch fails

This has happened multiple times. A batch that looked promising failed our heavy metals screening. We've had amino acid profiles come back showing lower levels than our standard. We've pulled batches for bacterial detection on the product surface.

When this happens, we don't retest or negotiate. We discard the batch. We eat the cost. We apologise to the customer and explain why that batch didn't ship. We tell the farm where the problem was detected so they can investigate their sourcing or environment.

A batch that fails testing doesn't ship. There's no Plan B of "well, it's close enough". Close enough is not good enough.

Most supplement companies absorb risk by not testing, or by setting a lower standard. We absorb risk by testing rigorously and rejecting anything that falls short. This costs money. We pass that cost to customers through price. We think it's necessary.

The bottom line

Every batch of Organised has been tested for heavy metals, pathogens, and amino acid content. We have third-party documentation proving this. If you want to see the results for your batch, ask and we'll send the COA.

This isn't unique or innovative. It's what quality should look like. The fact that most companies don't do it shouldn't make us special. It should make them unusual.

We test every batch because the alternative is accepting risk you don't know exists. We don't accept that risk on behalf of our customers.

References

1. 1. US Food and Drug Administration. Elemental Analysis Manual: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometric Determination of Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Mercury and Other Elements in Food. fda.gov
2. 2. International Organization for Standardization. ISO/IEC 17025:2017 General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. iso.org
3. 3. California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. Proposition 65 - Maximum Allowable Dose Levels (MADLs). oehha.ca.gov