Fake peptide COA? How to check a lab report is real

By Jordan Sanders · Updated 2026-10-26 · How this site is paid

Short answer: the only check that settles it is the lab that issued the report confirming it. Find the lab's website yourself, look the report up by its number or code, and compare every field. Then make sure the lot number matches your vial. Odd fonts or layout can raise doubts, but they can't prove a report real or fake. Only the issuing lab can do that.

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Step 1: confirm it with the issuing lab

1. Find the lab yourself. Search for the lab by name and go to its own website. Don't rely on a link or QR code printed on the COA, because an altered document can point anywhere.
2. Look the report up. Many labs have a public lookup by report number or verification code. If the lab has no lookup, email it with the report number and ask it to confirm the report.
3. Compare every field. The lab's copy should match the one you were shown: client name, sample name, lot number, dates, methods and every value. Any difference means the copy you were shown isn't the report the lab issued.

If the report number is missing, cropped or blacked out, there's nothing to look up. Ask the supplier for a copy the lab can confirm.

Step 2: tie it to your vial

A genuine report only covers the sample the lab tested. Check that:

• the lot number on the report matches the lot on your vial or label
• the client on the report is the supplier you bought from, or a company the supplier can explain
• the same report isn't shown for several lots, or for every size of a product
• the report date fits the lot, and the same report hasn't been shown unchanged for many months

A real report for a different lot isn't fake, but it isn't evidence about your vial either. See why "same batch" isn't proof.

What a "representative" COA means

Some suppliers show a "representative" or "sample" COA: a real report for one lot, used to illustrate a product. It can show what that lot looked like when tested. It says nothing about the lot in your hands. If a supplier only offers a representative report, ask for the report for your lot number.

Step 3: check that the report makes sense

• Dates in order. The sample should be received before the report is issued, and neither date should be in the future.
• Identity and purity both shown. Purity by HPLC and identity by mass spectrometry are separate tests. Purity alone doesn't show the sample is the right compound. See what purity leaves out.
• Raw data behind the numbers. A chromatogram should sit behind the purity figure, and its main peak should clearly dominate. A percentage with no chromatogram can't be checked.
• Methods named. Each value should have its method beside it. The COA reading guide walks through every line.

Warning signs, and what to do about each

If a report doesn't check out

You have three options: ask the supplier for the report for your lot, contact the issuing lab directly, or have a sealed vial tested yourself (see how to get peptides tested). A report that can't be confirmed isn't proof that anything is wrong with the product. It means the report can't be relied on as evidence. Before you buy, the supplier checklist covers the questions to ask about testing.

Want a second pair of eyes? The free COA checker lists what's present, what's missing and how to confirm each part. It can't declare a report real or fake. Only the issuing lab can.