It can be tested, the best way is to use two multimeters, connect one on series and set this to read DC current, connect the other in parallel, ie between the wire to the reg and to chassis and set to read DC voltage. Start the engine and increase the revs, as the revs increase the voltage rises above the nominal battery voltage you will see that the meter reading the current will start to read the current that is shunted back to chassis ( or battery negative) if your reg is working correctly.
You could of course use one meter, first do the voltage versus revs and take note of the results, then connect for current in series, you will know what voltage is at any given revs and can see the current on the meter.