Lab Testing

[chaosmonkey]

Hey Ya'll, occasional lurker on the reddit board, finally worked up the nerve to actually post a question. First off, I apologize if this has already been addressed in the reddit forum or elsewhere I should be aware of.

What's the deal with lab testing? Especially for shit like e.coli & salmonella, etc. Specifically, I want to try some product from Canopy but I can't find any info on their site about lab testing. Does anyone know if they test? Is it really that useful of a metric?

Your thoughts and knowledge would be greatly appreciated.

[herbalhippie]

I don't know if Canopy is testing, but I know Herbal RVA is now.

I believe it's for things like salmonella and heavy metals. It's good if you're concerned about those things.

I figure I'm more at risk getting salmonella from the bagged salads I buy occasionally than I am from kratom.

[whiffypants]

Welcome, Chaosmonkey!

For myself, I'm not convinced that the testing is all that helpful or beneficial. I don't necessarily trust a lab report nearly as much as I trust a solid vendor with whom I've been dealing for a while, if only because if I wanted a lab report I could generate something quite plausible in MS Word in under 20 minutes. Not saying anyone does, but that's why I go with my trust in a vendor before a lab report. I don't know the lab, or the chain of custody, or what was provided by way of samples, or even if those samples were truly representative of the batch or lot as a whole -- none of that. I only know the vendor.

In addition, many vendors use the same handful of suppliers, while only a few deal specifically with small, boutique suppliers and/or private farmers directly known to them. To me, this is an important factor because I don't know how the major suppliers handle their kratom, and assume there is at least some level of mixing going on -- if not at the farm then upon processing -- and more chance for contaminants to enter into the entire supply, making testing more or less moot. What does it matter to me what Vendor X's lab report says when I know he got his leaf from one of the major suppliers, and what's true for him is true for all who got their leaf from the same place?

Plus, nobody really even knows yet exactly how the alkaloids in kratom work the way they do: they've isolated a few of the major one, obviously, but no one is remotely near having an answer for why this kratom works better than that one, even though the mitragynine (for example) content is lower in the one that works better. Let alone having an answer for why Strain 1 knocks MY socks off but does squat for you, or how/why HH can get awesome results from < 2g a day while many of us are in the 20-30g per day range.

For thousands of years people have been happily slinging back the kratom with no more scientific validation than the contented smiles on their faces, and even with lab reports (when available) I don't see any of us too far separated from that original barefoot crowd in that we trust, therefore we consume.

I don't want to bash lab testing, but honestly until there is some sort of industry standard that is in place across the board for all kratom -- that holds every supplier and vendor to the same labs, standards, required minimums, etc -- to me it's comparing apples and oranges anyway, except in regard to the presence of contaminants.

Many blessings to those looking for lab reports -- you're leading the way for the rest of us -- but to be honest I'm not there yet. I'll just cheer you on from the sideline on this one.

[BlendsAreMyFriends]

I have no doubt that if people were getting I'll from a vendor that we'd know about it in short order. Good news travels fast.

[whiffypants]

Exactly. My ears are still ringing from all the personal reports of salmonella infections we -never- heard.

[chaosmonkey]

Yeah, I was wondering about those!

[chaosmonkey]

Thanks for the input, ya'll. You made some very good points that my dumb ass hadn't even thought of.

[chaosmonkey]

Because this needs to be the final word:

Exactly. My ears are still ringing from all the personal reports of salmonella infections we -never- heard.

[whiffypants]

Heh, yeah. A healthy dose of skepticism never hurt anyone.