Research Updates | Retarate

This page logs material corrections, data re-checks, and methodology changes. Minor copy edits and typo fixes are not logged here.

2026-09-22 — Initial publication of this edition. Ten South African retatrutide / research-peptide vendors were researched and scored under Methodology v1.0.0 (frozen 2026-09-22 before scoring): LEOLABS, Pure Labs, ReGen-X, Research Peptides South Africa, BioPeptics, New You Lab, Ignite Muscle, Peptide Labs, GLP1-2U and Protopep. LEOLABS was designated Editor's Pick per this edition's editorial brief; LEOLABS and Pure Labs are tied for the highest score (83/100) under the frozen methodology, and that outcome is published as-is, with no tiebreaker applied — see the LEOLABS and Pure Labs reviews and our Editorial Policy.
2026-09-22 — Five vendor leads were investigated but excluded from the ranked list for insufficient current evidence: Foxy Beauty (the specific retatrutide product URL found in search returned HTTP 404 at time of check, and no peptide product was visible on the homepage), SA Peptides (no retatrutide-specific listing found; positions itself as a partner of Research Peptides South Africa, which is separately reviewed), Peptide Clinics South Africa (a doctor-led compounding-pharmacy model with no retatrutide claim found — a materially different business model from the direct-to-consumer vendors in this sample), BeSkinny (the vendor's own site could not be directly fetched, and two checks of its Hellopeter page produced inconsistent figures within the same session), and Medishape (a search snippet suggested a retatrutide page, but the live homepage shows no peptide product line and the specific URL returned HTTP 404). See this page for future re-checks.
2026-09-22 — Correction to the LEOLABS review: an earlier pass of this research reported that leolabs.co.za's retatrutide product page returned an HTTP 404 and treated retatrutide's appearance on the vendor's test-reports page as an unresolved catalogue discrepancy. A direct follow-up check found this was in error — the product page is live and purchasable (10mg–60mg, R1,620–R7,145), with a working checkout — and that finding has been removed from the review. The same follow-up found one new, confirmed limitation: the site's header, footer and checkout pages consistently list a support email at a different domain (support@leolab.co.za) than the storefront (leolabs.co.za). The source_accessibility score was revised from 2 to 5 to reflect the corrected accessibility finding; LEOLABS's total moved from 80 to 83 out of 100, now tied with Pure Labs for rank #1 of 10 by score. LEOLABS remains the Editor's Pick on editorial grounds — see the updated LEOLABS review and the Pure Labs review.
2026-09-22 — Update to the Protopep review: an earlier pass of this research could only retrieve page-title text from protopep.co.za and scored it 0/100 on that basis. A direct follow-up check found the site's robots.txt and sitemap.xml — both plain, directly fetchable files that do not require JavaScript — were not checked in that earlier pass. They show a standard, permissive robots.txt and a complete sitemap confirming retatrutide is sold in five dosages, alongside a self-service dosing calculator and consumer-oriented blog content. The site itself remains a client-side-rendered application with no server-rendered page text on any route, so most substantive claims (business identity, named testing, policies) are still unverifiable by this review. testing_documentation_disclosure, website_reliability and source_accessibility were revised upward to reflect the newly confirmed structural facts; Protopep's total moved from 0 to 12 out of 100, still rank #10 of 10 by score. See the updated Protopep review.
2026-09-22 — Major revision to the Protopep review: this research gained browser-rendering capability (Playwright) and used it to directly re-check every page on protopep.co.za, rather than relying on tooling that could not execute JavaScript. This found substantially more than the previous pass could see: unusually thorough, consistently-worded shipping, returns, privacy and terms policies, and a clear, prominent, site-wide research-use-only disclaimer with an explicit FDA/SAHPRA non-approval statement. It also found that retatrutide, despite being declared in the site's own sitemap in five dosages, is not actually available — every retatrutide product URL renders “Product not found,” and no retatrutide listing appears in the live 40-product catalogue — and that two of the site's own pages give inconsistent contact details. business_transparency, testing_documentation_disclosure, policy_completeness, research_use_regulatory_framing, website_reliability and source_accessibility were all revised to reflect directly-rendered evidence. Protopep's total moved from 12 to 55 out of 100, moving from rank #10 to rank #3 of 10 by score; other vendors' ranks 4-10 shifted down by one accordingly. See the updated Protopep review.
2026-09-22 — Further update to the Protopep review, following a direct check of two more pages: its /accessories catalogue and its “Peptide Finder” tool. The accessories catalogue is titled “Peptide Administration Accessories” and sells real pharmaceutical-brand self-injection pens (a Sanofi AllStar pen, a Lilly HumaPen Ergo II, a Novo Nordisk NovoPen 4) explicitly marketed for “precise peptide dosing” — language that blurs the site's own research-use-only framing more directly than anything found previously. The Peptide Finder tool separately confirmed that retatrutide is treated as an informational, no-price “Research Only” entry (the same treatment given to Semaglutide) rather than a purchasable product, consistent with its 404'ing product pages. research_use_regulatory_framing was revised from 10 to 5 to reflect the accessories-catalogue finding; Protopep's total moved from 55 to 50 out of 100. See the updated Protopep review.
2026-09-22 — Comprehensive Playwright re-verification of the eight remaining reviewed vendors (glp1-2u.com, peptidelabs.co.za, newyoulab.co.za, ignitemuscle.co.za, biopeptics.co.za, peptides.co.za/researchpeptides.co.za, and regenx.co.za), directly rendering homepages, About/Contact pages, policy pages and specific product pages rather than relying on earlier, less complete passes. Material findings and score changes: GLP1-2U — a specific retatrutide product listing was found to explicitly and falsely claim “FDA Approved” status with named clinical indications, the most serious regulatory-accuracy finding in this edition; testing_documentation_disclosure revised 0→5 for a generic marketing-tag claim found; total 30→35. Peptide Labs — a named, real testing laboratory (Janoshik) was found on its Contact/FAQ page, but its retatrutide product page was found to display step-by-step reconstitution instructions directly beneath its research-only label, and no privacy/terms/shipping/refund policy could be found anywhere on the site; business_transparency 5→10, testing_documentation_disclosure 0→10, independent_verifiability 0→8, policy_completeness 5→0, research_use_regulatory_framing 10→0; total 35→43. New You Lab — its only policy link (Terms & Conditions) was found to 404; policy_completeness 5→0, website_reliability 10→5; total 40→30. Ignite Muscle — its Privacy Policy and Refund and Returns Policy were confirmed as genuinely substantive (not just links), including an explicit importer/distributor disclaimer; no score change (already at favourable bands), evidence strengthened. BioPeptics — real contact details and a detailed Delivery Policy were confirmed, but its “Policies” and “Returns & Refunds” links were both found to 404; business_transparency 5→10, website_reliability 10→5; total unchanged at 40. Research Peptides South Africa — a substantive Disclaimer page was found on researchpeptides.co.za (not mirrored on peptides.co.za); research_use_regulatory_framing 0→5; total 45→50. ReGen-X — a generic testing claim and an explicit “not approved for human or veterinary use” statement were confirmed; testing_documentation_disclosure 0→5; total 50→55. Combined, these changes reshuffle the ranking: ReGen-X moves to rank #3, Protopep to #4, Research Peptides SA remains #5, Peptide Labs rises to #6, BioPeptics to #7, GLP1-2U to #8, Ignite Muscle to #9, and New You Lab falls to #10. See each vendor's updated review and the comparison page for the current standings.