"Standardized" is one of the most abused words in the ingredient trade. Used properly, it means one thing: every lot is adjusted to hit a stated compound percentage, verified by assay.
A promise you can reproduce
Nature does not produce identical harvests. Standardization is the process of measuring the active compound and blending to a fixed target so a formulator's recipe behaves the same, batch after batch.
Standardization is not a claim. It is a number you can reproduce, lot after lot.
What to ask a supplier
- Which compound is standardized?
- At what percentage, and by which analytical method?
- Does a certificate of analysis ship with every batch?
- Is the marker measured on the finished extract, or only on the raw input?
If any answer is missing, the word on the label is decoration. A real standardization spec survives all four questions.
