F.A.Q. / ANSWER CENTER

A: We know that some extracts can be costly, so depending on what you send us, these are the required amounts:

RAW MATERIAL/NON-EXTRACTED MATERIAL

• • ID/Content Only (POWDERS) = 2g – 5g
  • ID/Content Only (LIQUIDS) = 5ml-30mL
  • ID / Biological / Metals (FULL PANEL – POWDERS) = 15-30 grams (Most common)
  • ID / Bio / Metals (FULL PANEL – LIQUIDS) = 15ml / 1/2oz

EXTRACTED/COSTLY MATERIAL

• • ID/Content Only (POWDERS) = 1 gram
  • ID/Content Only (LIQUIDS) = 14ml

• ID / Biological / Metals (FULL PANEL – POWDERS) = 14 grams*
• ID / Biological / Metals (FULL PANEL – LIQUIDS) = 28ml / 1oz*

We request just enough sample material to run our testing, and use most if not all of the material sent to us.  For that reason as well as sterility and chain of custody concerns, all samples become the property of Wonderland-Labs. Also, please note that any samples sent without the Sample Submission Form will be quarantined and then disposed of. We cannot return any material for any reason, with two exceptions:

1. 1. We can return the material if we are not capable of testing it, AND the material was accompanied by a Sample Submission Form.

1. If an extract is particularly expensive, we can return any untested portion to you, as long as the material was accompanied by a Sample Submission Form.

* Requires approval in advance from Wonderland-Labs

A: For any product that is intended for consumption, the FDA requires what is commonly referred to as a “FULL PANEL”. This is a 3-pronged test, which includes ID/PERCENTAGE (to identify your material, and to tell you how much of a specific alkaloid is in your material), HEAVY METALS (will tell you if there are any dangerous levels of metals such as lead in your material), and the BIOLOGICAL test (which will tell you if there are any dangerous levels of pathogens such as E. coli in your material).

That full panel test is typically around $359.00 for all 3 tests, but please refer to the “GET A QUOTE” page for the exact pricing.

Clients often then ask; “Can I combine multiple varieties/strains into a single test to save money? The answer is a resounding “No, sorry!” One test is required per LOT NUMBER, HARVEST, SHIPMENT, or BATCH NUMBER. There are no exceptions to this.

Explained simply: If one of your varieties has a dangerous level of lead in it, and the other varieties you want to test don’t. As soon as you combine those together, the low lead material will “dilute” the high lead material, and it could come out as a PASS. But, lead is extremely poisonous, and just by trying to save a little money up front, you could be getting yourself in trouble with the FDA, and worse; you could cause the consumer to get lead poisoning.

So again, for any material that will be intended for consumption, we run the exact tests required by the FDA. Those 3 tests are commonly referred to as the “FULL PANEL.”

CRITICAL NOTE: Please note that if we run the tests and the material is free from pathogens, it does not mean that your material is legal and/or safe for consumption. The assumption is that you are providing us with material that the FDA already deems safe for consumption. All you’re supposed to be doing is making sure there aren’t any dangerous levels of common metals, bacteria, mold or pathogens. We simply test for the common pathogens and levels of heavy metals as is required by the FDA, and then report on our findings.

• Testing for ID/Percentage is critical to know if the material your testing is what you actually think it is.
• Testing for Biological contaminants is critical if you want to know if it’s free of pathogens such as E. coli and others.
• Heavy Metals testing is critical to know if the material has been adulterated, or if it has unacceptably large amounts of standard heavy metals in it, making it unsafe for consumption.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: It may look like you can enter payment information on your WONDERLAND CLIENT DASHBOARD, but it’s NOT an active system, so please use one of the payment methods below. DO NOT CLICK THE “PAY” BUTTON TO TRY TO PAY.

A: PAYMENT INFORMATION: Payment information is included on the invoice we post to your private account once we receive your material and assign it a Sample Set number. SENDING PAYMENT WITH YOUR SAMPLE(S) WILL VASTLY SPEED TESTING TIME.

PAYMENT METHODS INCLUDE:

• ALL PAYMENT METHODS – MENTION NOTHING OTHER THAN YOUR SAMPLE SET NUMBER.
• Zelle (easy setup – pay with an email!)
• GooglePay (easy setup – pay with email or phone)
• Apple Cash (easy setup – pay from your iPhone)
• eChecks (Initiated from your online bank account.)
• ACH/Wire (for all testing – banking info on all invoices)
• Cash/Checks/Money Orders (top payment method from clients)
• BitCoin (Just ask for our BitCoin address or it’s included with your invoice.)
• Facebook Messenger Pay (Payment info is included on your invoice.)
• PayPal (for any NON-Kratom testing)
• CREDIT CARDS* (Please read conditions below)

* We do often have a credit card option for Kratom testing, but it carries a 12% service fee (our cost). Also, if there is anything related to Kratom on a website or email associated with your business name, there will be a 12% service fee as well. In addition, there are often international bank transaction fees that are beyond our control since credit card charges are passed through a foreign bank.

KEY POINT 1: Customers with whom we’ve built a relationship with (VIP Status), who leave a credit card on file, or who pay us a retainer have the luxury of having testing start as soon as we receive your material, and of seeing results as soon as we have them.

KEY POINT 2: We will only add your material to the testing queue on EVIDENCE OF PAYMENT. This means you can scan the check you’ve sent us or take a screenshot of the payment you just sent us as proof of payment. THEN: Once we receive your payment, we will post that we have received your payment to your account. Watch your milestones for progress as your payment is received, your sample is added to the queue, and moves into testing. SENDING PAYMENT WITH YOUR SAMPLES WILL GREATLY SPEED UP THE TESTING PROCESS.

FINALLY: ONCE WE RECEIVE YOUR MATERIAL AND ASSIGN IT A SAMPLE SET, WE WILL CREATE YOUR WONDERLAND CLIENT DASHBOARD. ONCE WE CREATE YOUR CLIENT DASHBOARD, WE WILL SEND A LOGIN VIA EMAIL. ONCE WE DO THAT, WE WILL CREATE YOUR INVOICE AND SEND A SECOND EMAIL ALERTING YOU THAT YOUR INVOICE HAS POSTED.

A: Our lead time is currently 24-48 hours for ID/POTENCY. Lead time for HEAVY METALS is 5-6 days for standard and 3-days for our 3-Day Express. For BIOLOGICAL testing, you have a choice: PASS/FAIL is just a 3-day lead time. TRADITIONAL PLATING is the usual 8-10 days since it’s a physical process we cannot speed up.

We often provide individual results as they complete in the lab. Texted real-time results are also available if you wish.

It’s important to note that there is no way to speed up any of the physical processes required for sample testing. Samples can take 24-48 hours to get through the queue for Material Identification and Percentages, 48-72 hours for Heavy Metals detection, 72-96 hours for the first stage of traditional plating for Biological Testing, and then potentially another 36-48 hours for the second stage. That makes a total minimum Biological testing time of approximately 8-10 days when we’re running at maximum capacity.

We can do PCR testing which has a 48 hour turnaround time, but that method is $79.00 per pathogen and does not tell you whether the pathogen is living or dead. (It only matters if the pathogen is living in any material intended for consumption.)

CRITICAL: Turnaround times are from the time the material comes up in the queue after evidence of payment is received, and not from the moment your material arrives to us. For clients we’ve built a relationship with (VIP STATUS), we begin testing the moment your material arrives regardless of payment status. SENDING PAYMENT WITH YOUR SAMPLES CAN REDUCE TURNAROUND TIME.

We can do ID rush jobs in 12-24 hours for a higher fee (1.5x – 2x the normal fee). Any rush jobs need to be explicitly requested on the Sample Submission Form in advance, and explicitly approved in writing by the lab.

We know deadlines for testing is often yesterday, and we truly do understand how stressful it can be waiting for results, but patience is the best thing you can do for us and the testing process.

WHY THIS IS: Let’s say one sample you have contains extremely high amounts of lead – high enough to poison a person who consumes that material. Let’s then say, to save money, you combine that material with 3 other samples that have extremely low lead content. When the 4 materials are combined into a single material, the high lead will be masked by all the low lead, and it may come up as a PASS in the lab.

This means you wouldn’t know that you’re passing poisonous material onto your customer.

The FDA also will not accept multiple raw materials or multiple lot numbers that have been combined to generate a single Certificate of Analysis.

Let’s look at another example: The lower detection limit for E. coli using the FDA-BAM method is 3 CFU/g. To run this test, we use 9 test tubes, in 3 sets of 3. If one of those 3 sets shows positive for E. coli, that equals a positive result and is at our lower detection limit of 3 CFU/g. Now, let’s say you combined 4 materials into a single sample for testing. If we run those same 3 sets of 3 test tubes, and only 1 comes up positive for E. coli, it is now below our detection limit of 3 CFU/g. That means the product that showed positive for E. coli on an individual test, has now come up negative on a multiple material test.

This is the same for any pathogen, including Salmonella. If you combine multiple materials together, not only are you diluting the tainted material, possibly causing a false negative on testing results, but you are also spreading out the tainted material inside non-tainted material. During sample prep of that material, it becomes a much higher probability that the lab will pull samples from the section of the material that is not tainted, invalidating the tests, giving you a pass result, when you are actually a fail.

It’s more costly, but your business and the safety of your customers is at stake. Testing each sample individually is a small price to pay to ensure you are bringing a

LAST NOTE: If you manufacture a new product from several ingredients, even if each raw material has a lot number, you are required to get a new test for that new, multiple ingredient product as well. The FDA sometimes accepts Certificates of Analysis for the raw materials that went into a product, but it’s at their discretion.

A: Yes, yes, and yes. We offer the faster pathogen test called “PCR” testing. This is a DNA test that can be run in 24-48 hours. The drawback to PCR testing is that it cannot determine whether the pathogen it detects is alive or dead. The only harmful pathogen is a living pathogen. So, although the PCR test may come up positive for say, Salmonella, if it’s dead Salmonella, it will be safe for consumption. Only the USP method and the FDA-BAM, Ch 4 methods test for LIVING pathogens.

And we also do comprehensive pesticide testing as well; just ask for current pricing and coverage. Depending on what you want, pesticide testing typically runs between $149 – $279.

And, we are very pleased to announce our 3-Day Next Gen Biological testing. It’s a completely FDA compliant and accepted PASS/FAIL method for your biological testing. It’s slightly more expensive than traditional plating methods, but we start to see results in as little as 24 hours for Coliforms and Total Plate Count, within 48 hours for Yeast & Mold, and 72 hours for pathogens such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Staph.

FINISHED PRODUCT: If you have a finished product in a sealed container, you can keep it in that container. To be extra-sure it will get to us untainted and unspilled, please place that into a second container such as a Ziplok bag.

RAW MATERIAL: If it’s a raw material, simply place it in a Ziplok or the container it would normally go into as a finished product. To ensure it stays sealed, place that initial package inside another bag that can be sealed, such as a Ziplok. Just make sure they’re new bags and not recycled packages that had yesterday’s lunch in it.

LIQUIDS: If you’re sending a liquid, make sure you have a clean and sterilized container that will not leak when being sent through the mail. You can tape the top of the liquid container on, and then place that inside a Ziplok or two. Glass containers are fine, just make sure they’re sealed and properly protected.

CRITICAL: Please read the FAQ on HOW MUCH MATERIAL TO SEND. We have to reject any sample that does not contain enough material for running our tests.

Coliforms are are group of closely-related organisms. For the most part, Coliforms are relatively harmless, and occur naturally in the gastrointentinal tracts of most animals, as well as in the soil and the water. When referring to Coliforms, we’re generally referring to 4 main organisms; Escherichia, Klebsiella, Enterobacter and Citrobacter. All belong to the Enterobactericeae family, which, as we just stated, reside in the gastrointestinal tracts of humans and other animals.

The reason Coliform testing is so important is because it has traditionally been an indicator of how hygenically the material in question was handled. From harvesting (if it’s a plant), to processing, to delivery to you as a raw material or finished product.

High Coliform counts typically indicate unsanitary conditions or poor hygenine. So, does the mere presence of coliforms indicate fecal matter is present in a material?

The short answer is “No.”

Do Coliforms Automatically Indicate Pathogens or Contamination?

Coliforms do exist naturally in the environment. Testing for Coliforms does not automatically indicate fecal contamination, but a high Coliform count often results, when further testing is conducted, in detecting fecal matter in the material. This is why the FDA requires all material intended for consumption to be free of any E. Coli, one of the more non-lethal, but troublesome coliforms to humans.

Also, it’s important to note that it’s not just human fecal matter that is being detected. Since any warm-blooded animal is going to have coliforms residing in their gastrointestinal tract, there are many ways for material to get contaminated. Coliform presence doesn’t automatically mean that pathogens are present. High levels of coliforms does increase the risk of foodborne illnesses, but a high level of coliforms generally indicates hygienic conditions during harvesting, processing, and shipping of raw plant materials.

Let’s use an example of a plant that is being grown on a farm. If manure is being used to help the plants grow, studies have revealed that E. coli can live for extended periods of time in both water and manure.

“Studies have indicated that E. coli can survive for extended periods in manure and water (7, 11). We have demonstrated that lettuce grown in soil containing contaminated manure or irrigated with contaminated water results in contamination of the edible portion of the lettuce plant.” (https://aem.asm.org/content/68/1/397)

That means that is manure is being used on plants intended for consumption, the possibility of those plants being cotaminated with E. coli goes up considerably.

Let’s then say that the farm also keeps animals, and those animals live in a barn. Let’s say that barn is also where plant material is dried. If the same people harvesting the material were handling animals, or in a place where animals or other livestock were, E. coli can contamination can easily transfer.

Or, if water that has been contaminated with E. Coli is used to water or wash the plant material, this is another source of potential E. coli contamination.

And, the list goes on. If the plants are watered with “gray” water, if the plants are watered and/or washed with well or pond water that has any kind of wildlife use or visit it, if wildlife visits the plants while they are growing, and feed on the plants, or brush them as they pass; those are all common sources of contamination.

Is There Any Way to Kill E. Coli?

Luckily, E. coli is easy to kill. Subjecting E. coli to an INTERNAL TEMPERATURE of 148°F for three minutes will kill 99.99% of E. coli and Salmonella. Subjecting E. coli to an INTERNAL TEMPERATURE of 160°F for 14 seconds will kill 99.99% of E. coli and Salmonella. Please note that INTERNAL TEMPERATURE is critical for success. If you have a thick rooty plant, you will need to grind those roots as finely as possible, or at least to the final size they will be in whatever product is being made from them.

The FDA allows DEAD E. coli and Salmonella to be present in material intended for consumption. Through the PCR testing we do here that only takes 24-48 hours to see results, since it’s a DNA test, it will only show whether pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella are present; it won’t tell you whether or not they’re living or dead.

Obviously, the best material to work with is material that was never contaminated in the first place. Many suppliers are able to successfully work with their growers to ensure more sanitary conditions are followed when growing, harvesting, and processing material that will eventually be meant for consumption.

We offer small scale sterilizing of plant material up to 1000KG, but we are mostly in the business of testing for Coliforms and other pathogens in any material we are provided with.

How Does This Relate to the Aerobic Plate Count on My Results?

The easiest way to think about your results, is to put the results into to two main groups. The first row is the AEROBIC PLATE COUNT, which measures ALL of the biological activity of the material. This includes all bacteria, fungi (molds) and yeast that will grow in an aerobic environment. We do Aerobic Plate Count tests are 35C because this helps us detect the organisms that are most-likely to exist on or in humans.

The YEAST and the MOLD content are the two main types of fungi that are typically found in plant material. In general, the presence a larger-than-usual amounts of yeast and mold indicate that the material being tested is not very fresh, or was handled poorly while it was being harvested and processed. Is the material was piled high as it was being harvested, plant material at the bottom of the pile will begin to decompose quite quickly. If the material was held in a dark, damp place for a period of time, this encourages decomosition of the plant material.

Since yeast and molds occur naturally everywhere in nature, fresh plant material is extremely suseptive to deterioration. In fact, the pH requirement for mold growth is quite a wide range; from pH 2 to greater than pH 9, and at temperatures between 50 – 95 degress Fahrenheit.

It’s important to note that the moment a raw material is processed using extraction methods or placed under extreme heat will kill most of the yeast, fungus, mold, and everything else dangerous in a material. Subjecting the material to INTERNAL TEMPERATURES of 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celcius) will also kill most pathogens, yeast and mold.

What is a Safe Level of E. coli in My Test Results?

There is no “safe level” of E. coli in your test results. We get asked nearly every day if a clients test results have “too much” E. coli or not. It’s a yes or no question, and there is no gray area. Either your material is contaminated with E. coli, or it is not. We sometimes provide numbers instead of a “Yes or “No” result because it is more accurate. On several of the FDA-approved testing methods, there is a lower detection limit for E. colil of < 3. We sometimes include that number instead of a “yes” or a “no” to be as accurate as possible. We are telling you that we did not detect any E. coli, but there could be a single cell of it hiding out somewhere in your material. That specific testing method we used (typically FDA-BAM), has a lower detection limit, although extraordinarily small, so it does leave the tiniest, microscopic margin for possible error.

At the same time, a < 3 CFU/g result for E. coli is acceptable for consumption by the FDA. The ‘Coliform Microbial Density’ for drinking water in most of the world must be completely free from any E. coli colonies whatsoever. Bathing and swimming pool water can have about 200 colonies, and recreational water about 1000 colonies.

REFERENCES:

https://aem.asm.org/content/68/1/397

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2000.tb05335.x

We’re primarily a botanical and dietary supplement testing lab, but with a focus on Kava Kava and exotic botanicals such as Akuamma, Kratom, Blue Lotus/Blue Lily, Kanna, Sinicuichi, Wild Dagga and many others.  This means that you can send us any legal material, and ask us to VERIFY its identity, IDENTIFY any key compounds, alkaloids, or other materials in it, we can QUANTIFY percentages of any of those compounds, and we can TEST FOR CONTAMINANTS OR ADULTERANTS in your product.

If you want to know whether the product you are purchasing is actually what it claims to be, we can help.  If you want to know how much of a particular compound or alkaloid is in that product, we can help as well. Kava Kava is our specialty, as are other lesser-known and exotic botanicals, but we can test just about anything that can be tested.  If you want to make sure there’s nothing dangerous in your material, such as bacteria or heavy metal contaminants, we can find out for you as well.

Our parent company; FLORASCIENCE, INC. also does everything from custom extractions, to product formulation, to manufacturing, distribution, and private labeling of dietary supplements.  We can help turn your ideas into a safe, verified, GMP-produced, marketable product that will put you miles ahead of the rest of the competition.

Simply click to FLORASCIENCE, INC. to find out more about product development or CONTACT US to get a no-obligation quote. Any samples sent to us must be discussed via email or voice, and must accompanied by our Sample Submission Form, NO EXCEPTIONS, sorry!

A: It’s important to note that we base our “PASS/FAIL” results on FDA standards for food and dietary supplements. We have also integrated the AHPA’s guidelines for what constitutes a PASS or FAIL. For some results, such as specific Coliform, E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus, there is only a PASS/FAIL, so any numbers associated with them do not mean much. When it comes to YEAST, MOLD or AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS, we follow the FDA guidelines on what are acceptable levels of each in a product that is intended for consumption. So, if your material is a FAIL for Yeast, Mold, or Aerobic Plate Counts, it means that your material did test negative for the dangerous pathogens above, but that there are still high yeast, mold and bacterial counts (Aerobic Plate Count) in the material. If it’s a “FAIL” onYEAST, MOLD or AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS, it’s up to the manufacturer to decide if they want to continue manufacturing any products made from that material. Even though it is free of the potentially dangerous pathogens we test for, it still may not be suitable for consumption or even topical use. HIGH AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS reveal the level of bacteria in the material. Sometimes, not always, it can indicate the condition the material is in, in terms of spoilage or freshness. Aerobic Plate Counts can also be used when evaluating the sanitary practices during manufacturing and processing of any material. We get bacterial counts by taking a sample of the product and placing it in a neutralizing broth, then placing it onto glass plates at the proper dilution. We then incubate those plates for several days at a specific temperature to see if any aerobic bacteria are present in the material. HIGH MOLD COUNTS can reveal how the product was handled. If it sat in a damp area for a long time, if the material was packaged and sent to you before it was properly dried, or if it was harvested from the ground rather than from the plant – these are all things that a high mold count can help reveal. For AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS and HIGH YEAST AND MOLD COUNTS there isn’t an absolute scale. Once you determine there is a higher than generally accepted plate count, you must either do further research to see why this might be, perhaps running a DNA test to find out what exactly that bacteria is, helping you to determine its source, or looking for fresher product that was handled more professionally. We cannot make those decisions for you or answer those questions for you. As far as HEAVY METALS, we also use the FDA guidelines for acceptable heavy metal levels, including the strict Proposition 65 level that California somehow got passed. Since a lot of plant material contains higher-than-acceptable levels of lead naturally, often higher than what California allows to be in plant material, we no longer put “FAIL” when the lead is high in your material. We simply place “HI-LEAD”, but please understand that “HI-LEAD” according to our strict standards is the same as a “FAIL”. Again, it’s up to the manufacturer to determine what levels are acceptable, depending on the use of the material.

Testing is a small piece of insurance that pays back far more than it costs. 100% of the companies with whom we have tested for have reported positive sales numbers, increase in trust, and a heightened confidence that they’re not only providing their customers with the high-quality product they thought they were, but they are providing a safe product that won’t cause anyone who works with it or consumes it any health problems.

Certificates of Analysis are great sales tools as well; any product that has certification by the 3rd party lab such as Wonderland-Labs will automatically be trusted more by your customers. In the end, isn’t our #1 goal to protect the health and safety of our customers? If so, then Wonderland-Labs can help you achieve that goal in just a few days time.

A: You FIRST get your results electronically via your WONDERLAND CLIENT DASHBOARD.

Then, you get a signed and embossed FDA-accepted Certificate of Analysis with key data related to your product or material.  We maintain strict traceability indefinitely and sample retention for 2 years, and can back up any results with 3rd party verification whenever required.  Wonderland Labs prides itself on the accuracy of its testing, the presentation of its results, and the traceability of its methods.

Please note that any samples submitted become the property of Wonderland-Labs, and all samples must be accompanied by a Sample Submission form, or they will be quarantined and then disposed of.

A: Actually, product identification and purity testing is quite cost effective. Also, once you have verification of a potential product sample’s purity, safety, potency, or identity, for just $99.00, you could potentially save thousands in product purchases that weren’t exactly what were advertised or promised. It’s also great marketing material. And honestly, it’s a small price to pay for your customer’s safety and your confidence. Check out our VERIFY page for more details.

SIMPLIFIED PRICE LIST:

• • Identification/Quantification ($99.00): We will positively identify the material you have provided, and provide you with the key Kavalactone or alkaloid content within the material. This test takes 24 hours.

• • Heavy Metals ($119.00): We test for Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and Mercury. Each test is $50.00 if ordered individually, although the FDA typically requires those core 4 for foods and supplements. This test takes 48 hours.
  • 8-12 Day Biological ($109.00): We test for all major contaminants, and offer an FDA-compliant package of Aerobic Plate Count, Yeast, Mold, E. Coli, Coliforms, Staphylococcus, and Salmonella.
  • 3-Day Next Gen Biological ($159.00): We test for all major contaminants, and offer an FDA-compliant package of Aerobic Plate Count, Yeast, Mold, E. Coli, Coliforms, Staphylococcus, and Salmonella. Results are PASS/FAIL and get to you in just 72 hours.
  •  

We provide stamped and signed certifications from our FDA and EPA registered manufacturing and testing facility in addition to emailed PDF files for quick reference.

There are a few rare exceptions to testing costs, such as requests for DNA testing, or testing of certain trace alkaloids such as 7-hydroxy and a few others. DNA tests vary by material, but are usually about $99.00 per plant/alkaloid/bacteria.

For returning clients, once we establish a business relationship with you, we will begin testing as soon as we receive your material, but won’t release results until your payment has cleared or has been received by us. For long-term clients who have a perfect record of on-time payments, we will release results as soon as we have evidence of payment, or if we have your credit card on file.

A: Some still have our PO Box Address, but here’s our direct street address:

Wonderland Labs
1341 Distribution Way, Ste 16
Vista, CA 92081.

OVERNIGHT/EMERGENCY/RUSH: Use the same mailing address as above, but call us at 800-647-3154 or info @ wonderland-labs.com.

CRITICAL NOTE: WE DO NOT ACCEPT DROP-OFFS – EVERYTHING IS HANDLED THROUGH MAIL OR FEDEX.

Please know that it physically takes 4-12 hours to get you IDENTITY/PERCENTAGES, it physically takes 48-72 hours to get METALS, and it physically takes 72-96 hours for BIOLOGICAL TESTING minimum. It takes time for saturation for the metals and for colonies to grow for the biological. So, even if you paid us for Same Day service for METALS or BIOLOGICAL, it’s physically impossible to do that for you.

Also, we request just enough sample material to run our testing, and use most if not all of the material sent to us.  For that reason as well as sterility and chain of custody concerns, all samples become the property of Wonderland-Labs. Also, please note that any samples sent without the Sample Submission Form be quarantined and then disposed of. We cannot return any material for any reason, with two exceptions:

1. 1. We can return the material if we are not capable of testing it, AND the material was accompanied by a Sample Submission Form.
   2. If an extract is particularly expensive, we can return any untested portion to you, as long as the material was accompanied by Sample Submission Form.

We include detailed instructions for how to send us material, how to package it safely, and where to send it to on our GET A QUOTE page and our FAQ page, which you’re already on. You can FedEx material to us if it’s an emergency, and we do have a 24 hour turnaround time in those cases.

Or, if you send us material that’s an extract and don’t tell us it’s an extract, it will likely come up as adulterated or possibly adulterated. This is because extracts have different profiles than unprocessed raw material. For example, if a client sends us a sample labeled “Kava” but it’s actually a “Kava Extract”, it’s going to have a different chromatogram than raw Kava.

So, if the material you send us is anything other than 100% of a single unprocessed raw material, no matter what it is, it will come up as adulterated. In that case, what is most important, is that your product comes back with no pathogens or heavy metals. All we are determining is if the material you have provided us with is raw, unadulterated, unprocessed, just as it was harvested from Mother Nature material.

This is why it’s critical to alert us to the exact nature of your material. If it’s a blend, we need to know it’s a blend, and what components are in the blend (we don’t need to know the amounts of any proprietary blends). If it’s an extract, we need to know that it’s an extract, so we can compare the profile of your material against a pure extract of that same material. It also helps to know the solvent that was used when the extract was made; we have a large profile of extracts that have been extracted using different solvents. A material extracted with ethanol will have a different profile than a material extracted with methanol, or hexane, or various other solvents.

The way we determine “adulteration” is by comparing the material that’s sent to us against three different reference standards. One reference standard is an isolated alkaloid from the material. The second sample is raw, unprocessed material that we either grow in the lab ourselves, or know to be 100% pure plant material. The third is a set of extracts using several different solvents, including ethanol, methanol, and several others. This way, we create a visual reference called a “chromatogram” for each material. This chromatogram shows us what pure material looks like, which is very similar to a fingerprint, with one distinct difference: Plants of the same species and sub-species share extraordinarily similar visual profiles, unlike fingerprints and snowflakes which are all unique.

So, Tudei Kava, in both the Kavalactone lineup and the chromatogram will look very different than Noble Kava from Vanuatu. We have profiles for 14 different strains of Kava, so not only are we able to see what the Kavalactone lineup is, the chromatogram allows us to often discern the strain of Kava the material might be. This reference holds true for many of the products we test, including Mitragyna speciosa and several others.

If your material comes up as “possible” adulteration, it simply provides you to be cautious when making purchases of that material. If the alkaloid content is what you care most about, and the alkaloid content is exactly where you expect it to be, and both the biological and heavy metal testing come up negative, then it’s up to you to pursue any additional testing. Additional testing could consist of DNA testing, which typically costs about $349.00 per test.

Obviously, we will not test any known illegal substances, but if something unexpected and/or illegal is found in the material you provide us with, we will not suddenly call the police to report our findings. We operate with complete confidentiality, and immediately dispose of any material that is found to have something illegal in it. We will report our findings to you, and it’s up to you to take whatever action is required to remain within the letter of the law.

This possibility is part of the core reasons for running tests on any material you plan to offer for sale. We’ve had more than a few lots of material that had completely unexpected adulterants in them. One of the most common adulterants occurs with Mitragyna speciosa samples we receive. There are several compounds that reflect light in nearly the same way that mitragynine and 7-hydroxy reflect the light. Without knowing it, you could be passing that adulterated product onto your consumers, and if that product was eventually tested by the FDA or DEA and there was an illegal adulterant found in the product, you would be on the hook for distributing and selling that material and/or finished product.

When you look at it that was, $99.00 is a small investment to ensure the material you think you’ve buying in good faith, is actually the material you think it is.

We specialize in rare and exotic botanicals such as Kratom, Wild Dagga, Kanna, Lotus, Lily, Akuamma, Rivea Corymbosa, and many others. What this means is we’ve already developed a profile and reference standard for all of the materials in our current portfolio of materials we can provide testing for.

A: We request just enough sample material to run our testing, and use most if not all of the material sent to us.  For that reason as well as sterility and chain of custody concerns, all samples become the property of Wonderland-Labs. Also, please note that any samples sent without the Sample Submission Form will be quarantined and then disposed of. We cannot return any material for any reason, with the exception that material can be return if we are not capable of testing it, AND the material was accompanied by a Sample Submission Form.

A: All testing is up to the discretion of Wonderland-Labs. If any sample is deemed unsafe to test, or if it needs to be tested for something we cannot test for, as long as a Sample Submission Form accompanied the sample, this is one exception in which we can return your sample to you. Any sample that was not accompanied by a Sample Submission Form will be quarantined and then disposed of. Please do not send any samples with any intrinsic value unless we specifically discuss the samples via voice.

A: We wish we could give tours of the lab, and although you can come by to meet the staff, you cannot actually see inside our lab or Clean Room.  Methods and protocols were painstakingly developed, with a very specific range of equipment, and in this hyper-transparent world, we still have a great deal of proprietary information that must remain behind closed doors.  Also, with strict attention to pharmaceutical grade cleanliness, we don’t take any chances on contaminating our HEPA and bio-filtered lab environment.

A: We strive to be different, and quirky and fun. No regulations state that a serious laboratory has to have gloss white walls and putty-colored floors. We’re sometimes here at the facility more than we’re at home, so we decided to make it into a space we all thoroughly enjoy working in.  We chose a theme from a movie we all adored; Alice in Wonderland, and named our lab after that. Proudly a division of Florascience, Inc., Wonderland Labs specializes in Kava Kava analysis, Kratom, Wild Dagga, Kanna, Blue Lotus/Lily, and other rare or exotic botanicals. We will let you know if you’re getting what you think you’re buying.