Lab-tested quality

You can find all the lab reports for the products for each product in the store at the top right under the “Lab analysis” tab, where you can also find the current PDFs.

Our VITAQ OMEGA3 1100 undergoes a wide range of quality parameters in independent laboratories to ensure it is safe to take as part of your longevity routine. These include heavy metals, microbiological safety, dioxins and PCBs, and freshness/oxidation. The effective omega-3 content per capsule has also been determined.

Our water-soluble ASPRIVA powders contain plant-based and natural extracts, not purely synthetic ingredients. Therefore, a comprehensive range of tests is essential. Independent laboratories test them for heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic), dioxins and PCBs (industrial pollutants), pesticides (chemical residues from agriculture), plasticizers (phthalates) from packaging, glyphosate (a commonly used pesticide), mycotoxins (mould poisons) and microbiological safety (germs, yeasts, mould). These analyses ensure a safe and unobjectionable regular intake.

Plant extracts contain natural compounds that can absorb impurities from cultivation, processing and storage. Also certified organic ingredients are affected, as they can be contaminated by soil, air or processing with heavy metals, mycotoxins or plasticizers. Therefore, more tests are necessary. In addition to heavy metals and germs, they must be tested for pesticides, plasticizers (e.g. from packaging), glyphosate, mycotoxins (mould poisons) and dioxins & PCBs (industrial pollutants) to ensure safety and purity.

No. In Germany and the EU, supplements are legally considered food. They can therefore be sold without prior official testing. The responsibility for safety, labeling and legal conformity lies with the seller. This means that the seller should take care of this, but no one actually checks this before sale.

Very few suppliers produce their supplements themselves, but commission contract manufacturers to do so. As a rule, they also take care of purchasing the raw materials, so that the vendor usually only has to take care of the packaging design and online registration of the products.

Once the products are on sale, inspections by the responsible authorities are at best random, as there is a lack of personnel and structural capacity.

The result?

• In Germany, an evaluation by Quarks showed that almost 14,400 samples were analyzed between 2018 and 2021. Around 42% of these showed defects. In some federal states, the complaint rate was even over 70%.
• In Switzerland, an official investigation by the canton of Fribourg revealed that 89% of 127 samples were defective. Many products contained prohibited or inadequately assessed ingredients and had to be withdrawn from the market.

If a substance is classified as “not detectable” in a lab report, that’s a very good sign.
It means the amount was so low that it could no longer be measured using modern laboratory methods. In other words, even the tiniest traces that might still be present are so minimal that they are irrelevant from a health perspective.

For you as a customer, this means there is no meaningful contamination, and the product is considered clean. Especially when taken regularly, this is an important indication of high quality and safety.

This is only sufficient if a product consists exclusively of highly pure, chemically defined substances, such as isolated vitamins from controlled production. However, as soon as plant-based ingredients are used, this is no longer sufficient.

By their very nature, plant-based raw materials bring with them a wide range of potential contaminants. These include pesticide residues from cultivation, mold toxins (mycotoxins), environmental toxins such as dioxins and residues from processing and packaging such as plasticizers. In our opinion, it would be negligent to test only for germs and heavy metals, especially in the case of supplements with natural ingredients.

That is why ASPRIVA tests not just two or three risk factors, but over 800 different substances, including 807 pesticides and 31 plasticizers as well as many other potential residues. This is the only way we can ensure that even complex products with herbal extracts are really safe when taken regularly. Our testing strategy deliberately goes beyond the usual, because we do not want to take any risks and would never consume supplements ourselves without complete laboratory analyses.

At ASPRIVA, each production batch is tested individually. This means that not just one product sample per year, but every single mixture that goes on sale is tested.

We not only check the nutritional values, but also the safety, for example for residues, impurities, germs or heavy metals.

This systematic control is a matter of course for us. This is the only way we can guarantee that you receive a clean and safe product every time, regardless of when you order or how often you consume it.

Legal limits are legally defined maximum quantities of certain substances in food. They are intended to ensure that a product does not pose any health risks, even if it is consumed regularly.

For substances such as lead, cadmium, dioxins or pesticides, there are clear limits in the EU that must not be exceeded. If such a limit is exceeded, the product may not be sold.

At ASPRIVA, we test our products so closely that we can often detect levels far below these limits, and in some cases they are even below the detection limit. This means that the quantities are so small that they are barely measurable in the laboratory. We are not only guided by what is permitted by law, but also by what is feasible.

In Germany, there is no fixed list of substances that must be regularly tested in supplements. There are legal limits for certain substances such as heavy metals, pesticides and dioxins. However, the manufacturer decides how and how often testing is carried out.

The only obligation is that a product may only be sold if it is safe. How this safety is proven is not precisely regulated.

That is why we at ASPRIVA go further on a voluntary basis. For example, our water-soluble powder products are tested for 861 different individual parameters. These include pesticides, plasticizers, heavy metals, dioxins, glyphosate and microbiological contamination such as germs, yeasts and mould.

Our high-quality fish oil product VITAQ OMEGA3 1100 is also comprehensively tested for a total of 83 quality and safety parameters. This includes 44 safety tests, for example for heavy metals, oxidation values or residues. The other 39 tests relate to quality, for example the EPA and DHA content or the TOTOX value, which indicates freshness.

We always test the end product. This is the only way we can guarantee that it is clean, safe and suitable for daily use. Transparency is not an add-on at ASPRIVA, but part of our responsibility.

We would not consume supplements ourselves without such extensive laboratory analyses.

Pesticides are residues of plant protection products that can get into the end product during the processing of plant-based raw materials. Although many of these substances are permitted by law in small quantities, we at ASPRIVA test for over 800 different pesticides. This so-called combination method is much more comprehensive than usual and helps us to detect even rare residues. Traces can even occur in organic products, for example due to wind transport or contamination in the supply chain.

Our aim is to keep the finished end product as clean as possible. In the latest reports, all values were below the legally permitted limits, many even below the detection limit. For you, this means maximum safety in daily use.

Dioxins and PCBs are among the most persistent environmental toxins. They are produced unintentionally during combustion processes and can enter the food chain via air, soil or feed. Both groups of substances are considered potentially carcinogenic. Although the contamination in the EU has been decreasing for years, testing is still important, especially for products with plant or animal components.

We analyze our products for six different PCB compounds and classic dioxins.

In our latest report, the values were inconspicuous, in some cases even below the limit of quantification, i.e. they were so low that they were barely detectable analytically. For you, this means: maximum purity, even for environmental contaminants that are difficult to detect.

Plasticizers are substances that occur naturally in plastics. They can enter the product via packaging, manufacturing processes or machine residues.

Some of them are suspected of having a hormonal effect. Particular attention is paid to sensitive groups such as pregnant women. We test 31 different plasticizers, including critical substances such as DEHP or DBP.

According to the European Food Safety Authority, there are clear limits for these substances, the so-called tolerable daily intake (TDI). Our results are far below this, for example at 0.19% of the permitted daily value. This means that the quantities are so low that they are harmless from a health perspective.

Nevertheless, we continue to test consistently, because even the smallest quantities deserve attention.

Heavy metals include lead, mercury and cadmium. These can get into food via soil, water or processing. It is particularly important to monitor these substances in regularly consumed products, as heavy metals can accumulate in the body.

We therefore test our products for these. In the current report, all values were below the legal maximum limits, in many cases even below the detection limit.

This means that the measured quantity is so low that it can hardly be determined analytically. For you as a consumer, this is an important sign of product purity. Here too, ASPRIVA goes above and beyond what is required by law to guarantee you maximum safety.

No, not yet. Our products are not specifically aimed at competitive athletes, but at people who want to support their long-term health.

That is why we do not currently carry out a separate doping analysis in accordance with WADA standards.

However, the raw materials we use come exclusively from certified sources within the EU. Strict legal requirements apply in the EU with regard to food safety. Substances on the doping list are not permitted in food supplements and may not be included under EU law. As we compile our products very carefully and work exclusively with tested partners, it is impossible for doping substances or similar substances to have inadvertently crept into our formulations.

If a specific test for doping substances is important to you, please send us a short message using our contact form. We take your feedback seriously and will be happy to check whether we can include this aspect in our analyses in future. With such suggestions, you'll be opening doors for us.

External seals or certifications can create trust at first glance. However, they have clear limits:

• They usually only relate to a specific sub-area, for example organic cultivation, heavy metals or GMP standards in production.
• However, no third-party certificate available on the market even comes close to covering the 861 individual parameters that ASPRIVA has tested for its powder products.
• Another difference is that certifications are often based on a one-off test or audit, but not on regular, batch-related laboratory analyses.

At ASPRIVA, on the other hand, we test each production batch individually and independently. The results are documented in full laboratory reports.

Our aim is to offer you not just a symbol, but genuine transparency. That's why we don't publish blanket seals, but show you specifically which substances we test for and what the results are.

Seals can be useful, but nothing offers as much transparency and security as a published laboratory report on a specific production batch.

Only a comprehensive laboratory report shows exactly what is contained in the product. It is precisely this openness that is more important to us than a sticker on the packaging.