im going to keep pointing new people at one post instead of retyping this, so here it is. three checks, that's it, before money leaves your hand:
1. is there a third-party CoA, and does the sample/batch ID on the paper MATCH the jar youre actually getting
2. is there a batch ID on the jar at all (no batch = no traceability = you cant verify anything later)
3. can they tell you roughly where it came from and who harvested it — vague "himalayan" with no specifics is a flag
thats the floor. not exhaustive, but if a seller fails these three you can usually stop there.
The match part of #1 is the one everyone skips. A real CoA for a *different* batch is the most common trick — the document is genuine, it just isn't for your jar. Ask for the CoA before they know which lot you're buying.
wait the pdf can be real and still wrong?? ok that one got me
@Jake yep. "we have a lab report" is a sentence built to make you stop asking. the report existing isnt the check. the report matching your batch is
one thing on #3 — ask the region, not just the country. honey from one valley is not the same as the next, and a seller who truly sources it will be happy to tell you. the one inventing a story gets vague very fast.