Every certification we track in our scoring methodology — how each one is verified, what it actually guarantees, and what it leaves out.
Independent verification that a product contains no animal-derived ingredients.
Verifies a product and its ingredients were not tested on animals.
Certifies entire companies on social, environmental and governance performance.
US federal standard for food and farming grown without synthetic pesticides or GMOs.
Guarantees minimum prices and community premiums for producers in developing countries.
The strictest globally recognised cruelty-free certification with supplier audits.
Independent verification that a product avoids genetically modified inputs.
Personal-care certification with strict ingredient transparency and safety criteria.
Standard for farms and forests on biodiversity, livelihoods and supply-chain traceability.
Forest Stewardship Council certification for responsibly managed forests.
Certifications aren't interchangeable — each one tests a different slice of a product's footprint. A useful shortcut: look for at least one ingredient/material certification (Organic, EWG, FSC, GOTS), one process certification (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance) and one company-levelcertification (B Corp, Leaping Bunny). Together they cover what you buy, how it was made, and who made it.
A product with a single self-declared “eco-friendly” badge tells you almost nothing. A product with three independent third-party seals from active registries tells you a lot.
It depends on the product category. B Corp signals company-wide practices; Leaping Bunny and Cruelty-Free certify no animal testing; USDA Organic and EWG Verified focus on ingredient safety; FSC and Fair Trade certify raw materials and supply chains. We show which certifications each product carries so you can weight them the way you care.
No. Cruelty-free means the finished product wasn't tested on animals. Vegan means no animal-derived ingredients. A product can be one, both or neither — we tag them separately.
Yes. Self-declared claims, expired seals and lookalike logos all exist. We only credit third-party certifications with active, verifiable registries, and we link out to each certifier so you can confirm.
Certifications feed the Brand & Trust pillar. They aren't the whole score — a heavily certified product with poor durability or terrible support won't top a category — but they materially raise the ceiling.
| Family | Verifies | Does not verify | How it is checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company-level (B Corp) | Governance, worker and community practices across the business | Any individual product's material or safety profile | Public B Corp directory entry and certification date |
| Animal testing (Leaping Bunny) | No animal testing at any supply-chain stage | Whether ingredients are animal-derived | Certifier's brand list and renewal status |
| Ingredient/material (GOTS, USDA Organic, EWG) | Composition, growing method or hazard screening | Labour conditions or end-of-life impact | Certificate number and scope on the certifier's registry |
| Supply chain (Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance) | Pricing, labour standards and producer terms | Product durability or performance | Licence number plus audit cycle |
| Forestry (FSC) | Chain of custody for wood and paper fibre | Chemicals used in finishing | FSC chain-of-custody code |
The exact wording on packaging or the brand site is captured, because 'certified organic cotton' and 'made with organic cotton' are different claims with different thresholds.
The claim must match a live entry in the certifier's own database — brand name, scope and certificate number, not a logo image.
Many marks cover one product line or one facility. Scope mismatches and lapsed dates are treated as no certification at all.
Verified marks are stored against the product record with the check date, and re-validated on later refreshes so expiry propagates automatically.
A leaf, globe or green tick with no issuing body is design, not certification. There is nothing to look up.
One certified line used to imply a whole catalogue is compliant is the single most common overstatement we remove.
Packaging outlives certificates. A mark printed in 2023 says nothing about 2026 unless the registry agrees.
Brand-owned 'standards' with brand-appointed auditors fail independence and are not credited.
No. Certifications lift the Brand & Trust pillar only. A heavily certified product that fails on durability, support or price-to-value will still rank below a less-decorated one that performs.
The mark is dropped at the next refresh and the Brand & Trust pillar recalculates, which can move the product down every ranking it appears in.
Yes, provided the scheme publishes a standard and a verifiable registry. Regional schemes are treated on the same evidence test as global ones.