Almost every mushroom and supplement product sold online links to a Certificate of Analysis, usually shortened to COA. Most shoppers never click it. Those who do often close it again because a lab report is dense, full of abbreviations, and doesn't explain itself.
It is worth learning to read one. A COA is the only document that tells you what is actually in the product rather than what the marketing says. This guide walks through a real report from start to finish.
What a COA Is
A Certificate of Analysis is a report from a testing laboratory covering a specific batch of a specific product. It records what the lab looked for, what it found, and whether the batch passed.
The key word is batch. A COA is not a certificate for a brand or a product line. It covers one production run. If a company shows you a COA from two years ago for a product you just bought, that document tells you nothing about what is in your bag.
Who Should Be Doing the Testing
Look for a third-party laboratory, meaning a lab with no ownership stake in the brand. A company testing its own products and publishing its own results has an obvious conflict of interest.
Beyond that, check for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. This is the international standard for testing laboratory competence, and an outside body has audited an accredited lab's methods, equipment calibration, and staff qualifications. You will usually see the accreditation logo at the bottom of the report.
The lab's name, address, phone number, and license number should all be on the document. If any of that is missing, that is a problem on its own.
The Header: Matching the Report to Your Product
The top section identifies what was tested. On a typical report, you will find:
- Sample ID — the lab's internal tracking number for this specific test
- Batch number — the manufacturer's production run identifier
- Matrix — the form of the sample, such as ingestible, topical, or inhalable
- Type — the product format, such as soft chew, tablet, or tincture
- Received and completed dates — when the lab got the sample and finished testing
Pay attention to the batch number. It should match the batch printed on your packaging. If it does not, you are reading a report for a different production run.
The dates matter too. A gap of a few days between received and completed is normal, since different panels run on different equipment. A report completed years before your purchase date is worth asking about.
The Summary Panel
Most reports open with a summary showing each test category and a Pass or Fail. Here is what each one is looking for.
Water activity measures how much unbound water is available in the product. It is not the same as moisture content. Water activity is what determines whether mold and bacteria can grow, so this test is really about shelf stability. A pass means the product is dry enough to resist microbial growth over its shelf life.
Residual solvents check for chemicals left behind from extraction. Many botanical extracts are made using solvents like ethanol, and while the process is designed to remove them, traces can remain. This panel confirms any residue is below safety thresholds.
Microbial screens for bacteria, yeast, and mold. This typically includes E. coli, Salmonella, and total aerobic bacterial count. For anything you eat, this is one of the most important panels on the page.
Mycotoxins look for toxic compounds produced by certain molds, primarily aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. These can be present even when the mold itself is gone, which is why it is a separate test from microbials. Particularly relevant for plant and fungal material.
Pesticide screens for agricultural chemical residue. Panels vary by state and by lab, but a typical screen covers dozens of individual compounds.
Heavy metals check for lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. Mushrooms and many plants are efficient at absorbing metals from the soil they grow in, so this panel is meaningful for any botanical product.
A Pass on each of these means the batch came in under the regulatory action limits for that category.
How Many Pages Should a COA Be?
Most COAs run several pages. The first page carries the header, the summary table, and usually one detail panel. The remaining panels follow on the pages after it, each with its own table of compounds, limits, and results.
So a single page is often just the first page of a longer report rather than the whole thing. Check the page count before assuming anything is missing. What matters is that every panel listed in the summary has a detail table somewhere in the document.
Reading the Detail Tables
Below the summary, each panel gets its own table listing every individual compound the lab looked for. This is where the abbreviations start.
ND means not detected. The lab looked for that compound and did not find it at or above its detection threshold.
LOD is the limit of detection, the smallest amount the equipment can reliably notice at all.
LOQ is the limit of quantitation, the smallest amount the equipment can reliably measure as a number. LOQ is always higher than LOD, because noticing something is present is easier than measuring exactly how much.
These two numbers are the fine print that gives ND its meaning. ND does not mean zero in an absolute sense. It means below the LOD, and the LOD tells you how sensitive that test was. A very low LOD means a very thorough screen.
Results are usually reported several ways across the same row: as a percentage, as mg per gram, as mg per unit, as mg per serving, and as mg per container. They are all the same measurement expressed at different scales.
Servings, Units, and Containers
Near the bottom, you will often find a notes line defining the math, something like: 1 unit equals one gummy, weighing a stated number of grams, with a stated number of units per serving and servings per container.
Read this before you read the per-serving numbers, because per-serving figures are meaningless without knowing what the lab counted as a serving. If the report says one gummy per serving and the bag says two, the per-serving numbers on the COA are half what you would actually consume.
Signatures and Verification
A complete report is signed, usually by a lab director and a chief chemist, with dates. Many labs also publish through a verification platform, and the platform name appears at the bottom with contact details.
The product on the cover of this guide is a good example. Every batch of Mothership Mushroom Gummies is third-party tested, with the full report linked on the product page.
If you want to confirm a report is genuine, the lab's phone number is on the document. Labs field these calls. Give them the sample ID, and they'll confirm whether it is theirs.
Red Flags
- No batch number, or a batch number that does not match your packaging
- No lab name or contact information
- An image rather than a PDF. A screenshot is easy to alter. A PDF straight from the lab is harder to fake
- A summary with no supporting detail. If a report claims a panel passed but never shows the compounds tested or the limits used, you cannot check the claim.
- Safety panels missing from the summary entirely. A report covering only potency, with no microbials, heavy metals, or pesticides, is an incomplete picture of an ingestible product.
- Missing LOD and LOQ values. Without them, ND is an unverifiable claim
- A report years older than your purchase
- No COA available at all. If a company will not show you one, that is your answer.r
What a COA Cannot Tell You
A COA reports on the sample the lab received. It cannot confirm that the sample was representative of the whole batch, and it cannot speak to any batch other than the one named.
It also makes no claims about whether the product works, whether it is safe for you specifically, or how it will interact with anything else you take. Labs are explicit about this, and most reports carry a line saying exactly that near the signatures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does ND mean on a COA?
Not detected. The compound was not found at or above the lab's limit of detection for that test.
What is the difference between LOD and LOQ?
LOD is the smallest amount the equipment can detect. LOQ is the smallest amount it can measure reliably. LOQ is always the higher of the two.
How many pages should a COA have?
However many it takes to show a detail table for every panel in the summary. Multi-page reports are normal.
How current should a COA be?
It should cover the batch you bought. Check the batch number on the report against the one on your packaging.
What does ISO 17025 mean?
It is the international standard for testing laboratory competence. An accredited lab has been independently audited on its methods, equipment, and personnel.
Can I verify a COA is real?
Yes. Call the lab listed on the report and give them the sample ID.
The Short Version
Check that the batch number matches your product. Check that an accredited third-party lab ran the tests. Check that the summary covers the safety panels, not just potency, and that each one has a detail table behind it. Check the LOD so you know what ND actually means.
Four checks, about two minutes, and you know considerably more about what you bought than the label alone can tell you.
Lab Reports on MushroomFX Products
A third-party laboratory checks every batch we test, and we link the report on the product page. You can use this guide on any of them.
- MushroomFX Bulk Mushroom Gummies
- Mothership Mushroom Gummies
- Road Trip Mushroom Gummies
- Mushies Mushroom Gummies
- Moonshots Mushroom Gummies
- Moocah Mushroom Gummies
- Wunder Mushroom Gummies
- Day Tripper Mushroom Gummies
- Ferris Wheel Kanna Tablets
- Rize Mushroom Chocolates
- Road Trip Mushroom Chocolates
- Day Tripper Mushroom Chocolates
Or browse by format: gummies, chocolates, tablets, and syrups.
Author: James Harrison