A test report is a document issued by an accredited laboratory for a specific sample or batch. For food products made from hemp seed, the safety requirements trace back to Technical Regulation TR CU 021/2011 «On the safety of food products». For a buyer or a technologist, the report is not a formality at the end of a document package but a working tool: it shows exactly what was measured, by which method, with what result, and whether that result stays within the limit. Below we break the document down by groups of indicators and explain what to look at first.
What a report actually records
A report always refers to an identifiable object — a sample with a defined sampling date, or a batch with a number. The header lists the product name, the applicant, the laboratory and its accreditation certificate, and the test date. Then comes a table of indicators: as a rule, four columns — the name of the indicator, the unit of measurement, the limit (the permissible value under the regulation or standard) and the actual result. The key reading skill is to compare the «limit» column with the «result» column line by line, rather than reading the document as continuous text.
It matters that one report describes one batch or one sample. If you buy regularly, each delivery comes with its own report, and the figures may differ from one to another while staying within the limit. So the first thing to do when you receive a report is to confirm that the batch and the SKU in the report match what you are actually buying.
Organoleptic and physicochemical indicators
The organoleptic group describes appearance, colour, odour and taste. For dehulled kernel this means uniformity, a characteristic nutty tone and the absence of foreign odour; for cold-pressed green oil, the colour and aroma proper to the product. These indicators may seem subjective, but they are the first to signal oxidation or a storage failure.
The physicochemical group turns quality into numbers. For dry products these are moisture, and the mass fraction of protein, fat and fibre. Moisture matters not only as a product characteristic but also as a factor of storage stability. The mass fraction of protein is the indicator against which the declared level is checked — for dehulled kernel, for example, a benchmark of 30% and above.
For oil, two further indicators are worth understanding separately — the peroxide value and the acid value. Both characterise freshness and the degree of fat oxidation. The peroxide value reflects the build-up of primary oxidation products; the acid value reflects the build-up of free fatty acids. The lower these values within the limit, the «fresher» the oil; a rise in them is associated with product degradation and relates directly to shelf life. For a cold-pressed oil high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (around 75–80%), controlling these values is especially important, since such oils are sensitive to oxidation.
Microbiology
The microbiological group shows whether the product is safe with respect to living microflora. A report usually lists the aerobic mesophilic and facultative anaerobic count (QMAFAnM), coliforms, yeasts and moulds, and pathogenic microorganisms including Salmonella.
This group must be read line by line as well: for each indicator, compare the actual result with the limit. Pathogenic microorganisms, including salmonella, are regulated as «not permitted in a defined mass of product» — here the result must confirm absence. The aerobic count and moulds also speak indirectly of production hygiene and storage conditions.
Safety: contaminants
A separate and most critical group is contaminants — substances that enter the product from the raw material or the environment. For plant-based food products these are, above all:
- heavy metals — lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury;
- pesticides — residual amounts of crop-protection agents;
- mycotoxins — for plant raw materials where mould contamination is possible;
- radionuclides — where applicable to the type of product.
For each of these indicators the report states the limit and the result, as well as the method of determination. For a buyer this is the most substantive part of safety: it is here that you see the raw material and the finished product tested for substances that cannot be assessed organoleptically.
Cannabinoids and the «0% THC» statement
For hemp products the content of cannabinoids — tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) — is determined separately. They are measured by chromatography, either gas chromatography (GC) or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). It is the result of this analysis that underlies the statement that the product contains no THC: a figure in the report, not a general phrase on the packaging.
At the same time it is important to distinguish between documents. A test report records the indicators of a specific batch. THC status is confirmed by a dedicated expert opinion — for example, the opinion of the Tula Laboratory of Forensic Expertise of the Ministry of Justice of Russia on the content of THC and cannabidiol No. 2489 dated 09.12.2025. The batch report and the dedicated opinion complement each other but do not replace one another.
Methods and accreditation
Next to each result the report cites the measurement method — as a rule a standardised procedure under GOST, and for cannabinoids and a number of contaminants, chromatography. The method matters because the same indicator measured by different procedures may give different sensitivity and a different detection limit. If the method is not stated, the result is hard to interpret.
The second essential condition is the accreditation of the laboratory. What gives a report legal force is the accreditation certificate: it confirms that the laboratory is competent to carry out precisely these tests. So when checking a document it is worth comparing the scope of accreditation with the list of indicators in the report.
A buyer's checklist
Putting it all together, when you receive a report it makes sense to run through a short list of checks:
- do the batch and sample in the report match the actual delivery (traceability);
- for each line, does the result stay within the «limit» column;
- are the units of measurement and the method of determination stated;
- is there an accreditation certificate, and does the scope of accreditation cover the required indicators;
- is the test date given;
- does the specific SKU in the document match the one being purchased;
- for oil — are the peroxide and acid values within the limit, and how does this relate to shelf life.
Documents as a system
A report is not read in isolation from the rest of the package. It is more correct to treat the documents as a system, where each is responsible for its own level. A test report confirms the quality and safety of a specific batch. An EAEU declaration of conformity confirms the product's right to circulate on the market. A dedicated THC opinion fixes the cannabinoid status. A food-safety management-system certificate such as FSSC 22000 confirms that quality is ensured not once but systematically — through control of processes at the production site. Only together do these documents give a complete picture.
This set of documents accompanies the products of OOO «MAKOSH» — a deep-processing plant for industrial hemp seed: batch test reports are provided on request and are considered together with the EAEU declarations, the dedicated THC opinion and the FSSC 22000 v6 certificate.
This is what we make
Our own full-cycle plant in the Uzlovaya SEZ. Wholesale, EAEU documents, 0% THC.
Hulled hemp hearts (separated)
Protein over 30% · omega-3/6
Cold-pressed green hemp seed oil
Omega-6 : omega-3 = 3.5 : 1
Hemp protein flour
Protein 40–45 g/100 g
We’ll match a product to your production need and send samples with documents.