Lab tested, by people who are not us.
We send Heartlight resin and gummies to an independent, third-party laboratory. Not because a label requires it -- because a small maker should be able to show the work.
What the lab checks for
Three questions any careful buyer should ask of a kava product, answered by an outside lab rather than by the people selling it.
Identity and kavalactones
Confirmation that it is kava, with its kavalactone profile measured by HPLC. The lab also screens for kratom alkaloids, so nothing that does not belong is passing as kava.
Heavy metals
Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury. A root takes up what is in its soil, so this is the test that speaks for where it was grown.
Microbial safety
Total aerobic count, coliforms, enterobacteria, yeast and mold, and the pathogens that matter: E. coli, Salmonella and Staphylococcus. This is the test that speaks for how it was handled.
Why a small maker sends it out
Kava is a lightly regulated category, and plenty of it is sold on nothing but a label. Outside testing costs time and money that a small operation notices. We pay it anyway, because the root comes from local partner farms on Hawai'i Island, is extracted by hand in Pahoa, and we would rather a laboratory confirm what goes into the jar than ask you to take our word for it.