Reading a certificate of analysis
A certificate of analysis is the lab result for one batch. It is not marketing, it is the paperwork a manufacturer keeps to prove the batch is what it says it is, and any supplier should hand you one for your tub without a fuss.
The first section is identity and assay: what the active is, and how much of it the lab measured. Compare that number with the label. A result slightly over the claim is normal, because manufacturers overage a little to allow for decline over shelf life.
The second section is contaminants. For a marine ingredient like green lipped mussel you want heavy metals, particularly lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, each with a limit and a result well under it. For anything botanical you want pesticide residues.
The third is microbiology: total viable count, yeasts and moulds, E. coli, salmonella. For a live culture product there is a fourth thing worth checking, which is the count at the end of shelf life rather than at the point of manufacture. Cultures die over time and a number taken on day one flatters the tub.
Two practical habits. Check the batch number on the certificate matches the one printed on your tub, because a generic certificate for a different batch tells you nothing. And check the date. A certificate from two years ago is a document about a batch you are not holding.
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