Kratom Testing Explained

Limits, Our Acceptable Results, & How To Read Our Labs

As consumers ourselves at Taunton Bay Tea Co., we take our jobs & consumer safety very seriously. We set high standards, especially for storage, testing, & labeling, at the shop. Since 2017, we’ve consistently tested our kratom products for standard safety concerns associated with herbs.

As of 12/2025, there are no official testing regulations for kratom quality at the federal or the Maine state level. We have always deferred to limits set by experts, such as long-standing botanical-centric organizations such like the American Herbal Products Association for guidance and their expected limits in these areas. We also take other limits set by government organizations and regulation agencies from around the world into consideration. On an unofficial level, our final test is to judge each product personally.

"If we wouldn't we wouldn't purchase it ourselves, you won't see it on our shelves."

- Norman & Veronika, co-owners of Taunton Bay Tea & Soap Co.

Below, is an explanation of our what the numbers mean on our test results. We also included any suggested limits and "daily intake" limits we could find, mainly for anecdotal purposes and a way to compare the numbers. We also include a list of references we believe to be relevant to our testing. Please note that this was compiled by a human at our company in 12/2025 & we always suggest extra research.

Key:

Lot Numbers:

W1-R1-1000 - Red Vein Powder Products (***Including Red Mystery & Red Hulk Blends)

W1-R1-2000 - Green Vein Powder Products (***Including Green Hulk & Green Envy Blends)

W1-R1-3000 - White Vein Powder Products (***Including Thunderstruck Blend)

W1-R1-4000 - Yellow Vein Powder Products

***-7000 - 11000 - Chill Mix, Starburst, Synergy, & Rainbow Blends

(***Lot Numbers For All Blends Will Be Preceded By Abbreviations Of Names Instead Of W1-R1)

Ext-0001+ - Extracts

Organizations:

FDA: Food and Drug Administration

WHO: World Health Organization

AHPA: American Herbal Products Association

EPA: U. S. Environmental Protection Agency

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization

Testing Abbreviations:

CFU/G: Colony Forming Units per Gram (1 gram)

DIL: Daily Intake Limits (*PLEASE NOTE - these limits are decided upon by multiple regulation agencies for many different consumable products, including various food & cosmetic products. They're not directly related or correlated to kratom. We list Daily Intake Limits, or DIL, for your comparison and consideration only*)

PPB: Parts Per Billion

PPM: Parts Per Million

Conversions:

1,000mcg = 1mg

1,000mg = 1g

1kg = 1,000g

mg/kg ‎ = milligram per kilogram

mcg/kg = microgram per kilogram

1mg/kg = 1 parts per million & 1,000 parts per billion

1mcg/kg = 1 parts per billion

1 PPB (parts per billion) = 1ug or 1 Universal Gram

Mold/Yeast Combined:

WHO - Less Than 10,000 CFU per gram for mold only

AHPA - Less Than 10,000 CFU per gram for Mold & Yeast Combined With Absence Of Salmonella and E. Coli (As Of 2022)

AHPA - Less Than 10,000 CFU per gram for extracts

Taunton Bay - Under 10,000 CFU per gram | Under 10,000 CFU/g for extracts

*DIL - There is no Daily Intake Limits set for yeast & mold. According to Google, there isn’t much information on the subject. ----- Update 12/2025: Through more research on Google, there seems to be some food industry testing limits, though they state that these are based on potential risk and visibility of spoilage for specific food products, not any kind of daily intake limit for humans. These testing limits range from 1,000 CFU - 100,000 CFU, depending on the type of food.

E. Coli:

FDA - Negative / Not Detected (for bottled water & some food products)

AHPA - Not Detected in 10g

Our Lab - Negative - Not Detected is (Less Than) <100 CFU/g

Salmonella:

Federal - 10 CFU (for various meat products)

AHPA - Negative

Taunton Bay - Negative per gram

DIL - Under 1 CFU per gram

Arsenic:

FDA/EPA - 10ppb (for water)

WHO - 10ppb (for water)

Our Lab - Negative or Not Detected is (Less Than) <1mg/kg (under 1 ppm)

DIL - 3mcg per 1kg of body weight according to WHO/Google (3 ppb)

Example: 100lbs = 45.36kg = approx. 136mcg daily limit

Cadmium:

FDA/EPA - 5ppb (for drinking water)

Our Lab - Negative or Not Detected is (Less Than) <1 mg/kg

*DIL - 0.83mcg for a 70kg (154lbs) person, according to WHO & FAO.

Lead:

FDA - No official limit is set for most food or other products, as there are no safe levels of lead. Though some food additives limits are set at a staggering 10mg/kg (10 PPM) of product, while Juice Blends are 50ppb & Processed Baby Food is 10ppb

Our Lab - Negative or Not Detected is (Less Than) <1mg/kg (1ppm or 1,000ppb)

*DIL: In this case, an IRL or interim reference level of food intake, is 6-8.8mcg per day for adults, 2.2mcg per day for children according to FDA

Mercury:

FDA - <1ppm (cosmetics)

Our Lab - Negative or Not Detected is (Less Than) <0.40 mg/kg

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References:

References are provided for anecdotal purposes and consideration only.