What is True leaf market?

True Leaf Market is a long-established seed company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s not a bird-food brand — the company specializes in seeds for human consumption and gardening.

Founded in 1974, True Leaf Market has been providing high-quality seeds and gardening supplies to a wide range of customers, from home gardeners to professional growers.

The company is committed to promoting sustainable agriculture and home gardening, offering seeds that are minimally processed and free from chemical treatments. Their extensive lineup includes USDA Organic and Non-GMO products. True Leaf Market is highly regarded both in the U.S. and abroad for its excellent germination rates and product quality, making it a trusted choice even for beginners.

 

At True Leaf Market, rigorous quality checks are performed at every stage—from receiving to shipping. Each seed lot undergoes repeated germination testing to maintain rates well above industry standards. To preserve freshness, seeds are stored in a low-temperature, low-humidity environment and carefully packed only after an order is placed.

True Leaf Market regularly tests the germination rate and viability of its seeds. The company also employs a dedicated compliance officer to ensure that all seeds meet applicable seed laws.

True Leaf Market undergoes regular inspections by both state and federal regulatory agencies and has signed the Safe Seeds Pledge established by the Council for Responsible Genetics (listed under its wholly owned subsidiaries, Mountain Valley Seeds and Living Whole Foods). In addition, the company holds both OMRI and organic certifications and is periodically audited by these certifying bodies.

• Safe Seeds Pledge — A commitment not to purchase, sell, or trade genetically modified seeds or plants.

• Council for Responsible Genetics — A nonprofit organization founded in 1983 and based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

• OMRI Certification — An organic certification for agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, soil amendments, pesticides, seed treatments, and feed additives.

• Organic Certification — Certification for agricultural products and foods produced and processed in accordance with organic standards (e.g., USDA Organic).

True Leaf Market maintains a strict inspection and compliance system to ensure that every seed it sells meets the highest levels of quality and safety.

This article reprints content from True Leaf Market’s official page. The original is available here. Because our site displays content in multiple languages, we’re also publishing the English version. If you read English, please consider visiting the official site.

Did you know that True Leaf Market has a rigorous seed testing regimen to ensure that all seeds sold at True Leaf Market are of the utmost quality and standard? Recently we had the opportunity to ask Katherine, our Compliance Lead and the person responsible for this massive undertaking, some questions about what she does so that you can have even more confidence in the seeds you are purchasing.

My main responsibilities are to ensure that all seed is tested and meets verified germination standards. I also make sure all seed sold for sprouting is tested for common food-borne pathogens as required by the FSMA. Even though seed is not regulated by the FDA, we choose to test our sprouting seed for the safety of our customers. Ensuring that our customers receive top quality and safe seed is one of our main priorities at True Leaf Market. Other responsibilities include ensuring that we follow the Federal Seed Act regulations and performing test grows on our seed when there are multiple complaints on a certain lot number.

The purpose for testing seed is to make sure that the seed we sell is viable. Viable refers to the seed’s ability to germinate. We use the State of Utah’s minimum requirements for germination viability as standards for our seed. The purpose of testing our sprouting seeds is to ensure that the seed is safe for our customers. Our sprouting seed is tested for salmonella, E.coli, and listeria.

We have a very simple testing process for testing our seed. Basically, we test our seed regardless of variety every 9 months to ensure that its viability is still intact. We have a very well developed internal electronic record that aids us in determining which seeds we need to test first based on lot number. Here is a sample report of our germination tests. Our sprouting seed is tested at the time it is received, and is not released until we have confirmation that the seed is safe for sprouting use.

There are germination standards that are set by the State of Utah and the Federal Seed Act and we follow those standards.

We immediately remove the seed from the floor and the lot number is no longer sold. If we have a large surplus of seed, we will sometimes clearance the seed as “below standard.”

Testing the hundreds of lots we have in stock is sometimes a challenge, but we try to sample as fast as we can and get the results into our system in a timely manner.

Seed does not expire! Some varieties of seed can last many years if kept under the right conditions. The dates that we print on our labels is not an expiration date, but the date the seed was last tested for viability. All of our certificates of analysis for the pathogen results can be obtained through our customer service representatives.

We hope you feel our dedication here at True Leaf Market to provide you with safe, reliable seeds. Testing our seeds regularly is just one of the ways we accomplish that goal.

Check out the seeds we currently have for sale.

We also have plenty of videos—including step-by-step growing guides—so feel free to use them as a reference.