Compliance-ready testing for cannabis, hemp, and natural products
Each industry answers to different regulators, different risks, and different buyers—even when the underlying science overlaps. Find your industry below to see the testing programs, compliance frameworks, and turnaround options built around how your market actually works.
SC Labs has served the cannabis industry for over 15 years, providing ISO 17025-accredited testing across every state-licensed market we operate in. Our cannabis testing programs are built to keep cultivators, manufacturers, and distributors compliant while giving them data they can defend to regulators and put in front of customers.
What we test:
Why it matters:
Cannabis testing requirements vary significantly by state. A pass in one market can be a fail in another.
SC Labs’ multi-state lab network means your compliance panel is built to the regulations that actually govern your product, not a generic national standard.
Regulatory note: State-specific menus cannabis test menus are available:
Hemp and CBD companies operate under a different, and often more fragmented, regulatory landscape than cannabis. Regulatory bodies include the USDA, state departments of health, and voluntary industry standards (USP, AHPA, AOAC). SC Labs’ national hemp lab network is built to meet that patchwork without slowing down your supply chain.
What we test:
Why it matters:
Because hemp products cross state lines more freely than cannabis, buyers increasingly expect a testing partner who can certify against multiple state and national standards from a single source—not a patchwork of regional labs.
Regulatory note: Highlight USDA-compliant sampling and multi-state acceptance as differentiators.
Beyond cannabis and hemp, SC Labs extends its testing expertise to the broader natural products and botanicals industry—including functional mushrooms, adaptogens, kava, kratom, and other emerging plant-based and psychoactive-botanical categories. These products face rising consumer and regulatory scrutiny even without a unified federal framework.
What we test:
- Potency / active compound analysis
- Cannabinoids
- Alkaloids
- Caffeine
- Tryptamines
- Heavy metals & elemental impurities
- Microbial contaminants
- Pesticides
- Mycotoxins
- Foreign matter / adulterant screening
- Homogeneity
Why it matters:
As natural products scale into mainstream retail (grocery, wellness, e-commerce), brands need defensible, third-party data to support label claims and satisfy retailer/insurer due diligence—often before any regulation requires it.
Regulatory note: Without a codified set of national or state-specific regulations like the Cannabis and Hemp markets, the Natural Product industry relies on proactive and voluntary compliance with standards like NSF, USP, AHPA, GMP, and more.
Common Questions
Quick answers on compliance, scope, and how to find the right panel for your market.
What's the difference between cannabis testing and hemp testing?
Cannabis and hemp testing cover many of the same analytes—potency, pesticides, heavy metals, microbials, etc.—but the two industries answer to different regulatory bodies. Cannabis testing is governed by state-specific cannabis programs, while hemp testing follows a mix of USDA rules, state departments of health, and voluntary standards like USP and AHPA. The required panels, action limits, and even test methods can differ between the two even when the underlying compound being measured is identical.
Do natural products/supplements require third-party lab testing?
Most natural products and supplements aren’t subject to a single, codified third-party testing mandate the way cannabis and hemp are. Oversight instead comes through a mix of FDA guidance, retailer requirements, and voluntary industry standards like NSF and USP. Because of that, third-party testing functions more as risk management and market access than a legal checkbox: brands use it to support label claims, satisfy retailer or insurer due diligence, and build consumer trust. SC Labs currently offers accredited potency testing for this category, with additional contaminant screening available.
Does SC Labs test kratom, kava, or functional mushrooms?
Yes, SC Labs tests kratom, functional mushrooms, and other emerging botanical products as part of its natural products testing services.
Which cannabinoid and contaminant panels are required in my state?
Required cannabinoid and contaminant panels vary by state, so there’s no single universal answer. A panel that satisfies California may not meet Colorado or Michigan requirements. SC Labs maintains state-specific testing menus for the markets it serves; visit our Cannabis Testing Services Menu or Hemp Testing Services Menu to find the exact panel required in your state.
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