The use of nutritional supplements by competitive athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike has many nutritional supplement companies making claims about their products, but how many of them can actually back them up?

 

If you are a drug tested athlete the choice is simple, you should only choose products that are certified to be free of any banned substances by an accredited independent third party company that tests each batch of product produced, that uses ISO 17025 and/or NSF/ANSI Standard 173, and has a proven track record of success with professional and Olympic sport governing bodies.

 

 

For over 65 years NSF has been providing independent third party certification for food, water, and consumer goods. The NSF Certified for Sport® program is used by the NFL, MLB, LPGA, PGA, NHL and CCES to help ensure the supplements their athletes use are free of prohibited/banned substances. From approval of raw materials, formulation review, and rigorous testing of final products, NSF is there through every step of the production process to ensure that the supplements you are consuming are safe and contain exactly what’s listed on the label.

 

 

In 2007 the Informed-Choice program was established by HFL Sports Science, one of the world’s leading independent third party doping control laboratories that has been undertaking drug testing for sports since 1963. Informed Choice tests for prohibited substances in supplements it certifies using WADA/IOC (International Olympic Committee) standards, confirming that the supplement companies they certify adhere to the highest quality assurance systems and are using manufacturers that follow the highest manufacturing standards. All testing for Informed Choice products is done at HFL labs which is an ISO 17025 accredited lab. ISO 17025 accreditation guarantees that if contamination exists above the defined limit of detection then it will be identified and called “positive”.