Ghost Fitness/Guides/What does it mean for a supplement to be Informed Choice certified?
What does it mean for a supplement to be Informed Choice certified?
The short answer
It means the product is inside a seven-stage cycle with no stage failed: application and formulation review, a site audit for contamination control, pre-certification testing for banned substances, listing in the public database, blind market sampling, annual renewal, withdrawal on failure. It attests banned substances and the site, not dose or metals.
- Seven stages, one cycleapplication and formulation review, site audit, pre-certification testing, grant and listing, ongoing blind sampling, annual renewal, and withdrawal; certified means currently in the cycle with no stage failed
- The site auditthe manufacturing site is audited against a contamination-control standard before any product is certified; the stage that reduces the risk at source rather than detecting it at the end
- Blind samplingafter certification the product is bought from the market, not supplied by the brand, at intervals under a set regime and screened for the prohibited list; the stage that keeps the certificate honest
- What the cycle never checksthe dose against the label, the purity of the raw material, the metals, and whether the product does anything; four questions the cycle was not built to answer and four documents that answer them
Our brand: the worked example on this page
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
- 22p a day
- 180 capsules, 2 capsules daily
- Lab tested
- Made in the UK
Not in the cycle, and placed accordingly: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate on Amazon UK, outside any banned-substance programme and saying so, with the documents the cycle never checks instead, a four-metal batch certificate by lot and a label of 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, UK made under GMP and BRC, 180 for £19.99, 22p a day. Full label breakdown. The programme and its testing model is on the informed choice page; the three ways a logo lies on the certified legit page; the two programmes as two policies on the which is better page.
A certificate has a life: why certified is a cycle and not a moment, and the first four stages, the application and formulation review, the site audit, the pre-certification testing and the grant and listing
What does it mean for a supplement to be Informed Choice certified is a question that the logo answers with a tick and the honest answer treats as a cycle, because a certification is not a thing that happened to a product once but a process the product is currently inside, with stages before the logo was granted and stages that continue after it, and a product that has failed or left any stage is no longer certified whatever its tub still says. Following the certificate through its seven stages tells a buyer exactly what certified attests and, as importantly, what it was never built to attest.
The first stage is the application and the formulation review. A brand applies for a product, not for itself, and the programme reviews the formulation and the sources of its ingredients against the risk of contamination with prohibited substances, which is highest for certain raw materials and certain supply chains; a formulation with a high-risk ingredient from an unvetted source can be refused before anything is tested. The second stage is the site audit. The manufacturing site, which for most brands is a contract manufacturer, is audited against a contamination-control standard: how raw materials are quarantined and tested, how lines are cleaned between products, whether the site also handles prohibited substances for other customers, how the finished product is released; a site that fails the audit cannot make certified product, and this is the stage that reduces the risk at source rather than detecting it in a tub, and the stage the logo on the tub says least about. The third stage is the pre-certification testing: samples of the product are screened at the programme's accredited laboratory for the substances on the anti-doping prohibited list, by methods with stated detection limits, and the product must pass before any logo is granted. The fourth stage is the grant and the listing: the product, in its specific formulation, flavour and size, is certified and entered in the programme's public database, which is the record a buyer checks and the only place the certification exists in a form a buyer can verify; the logo on the tub refers to the listing and attests nothing on its own.
At the end of the fourth stage a product is certified, and a buyer who stops reading here has the usual understanding of the word. The next three stages are what keep it true, and the last three questions are what it never answers. A buyer who wants to know whether a product is certified today, rather than whether it was certified once, is asking about the stages after the fourth, which is why the database entry and its date are read rather than the tub's logo, and why a product certified last year and absent from the database this year is read as uncertified now.
Four stages followed, with the three that continue, blind sampling, renewal and withdrawal, what the cycle never checks, the worked example outside the cycle and the verdict in the next section.
The three stages that continue, blind sampling from the market, annual renewal and withdrawal; what the cycle never checks, dose, purity, metals and efficacy; the worked example not in the cycle; and the verdict
The fifth stage is the one that distinguishes the programme and keeps the certificate honest: ongoing blind sampling. After certification the programme buys the product from the market, from shops and online sellers rather than from the brand, at intervals under a set regime, and screens what it bought for the prohibited list; the brand does not know which lot will be sampled or when, which is the point, since a brand that supplied its own samples could supply its best. A product with a continuing record of clean market samples has a certificate that means something this year rather than the year it was granted. The sixth stage is annual renewal: the brand pays the programme's fees, the formulation and sources are re-reviewed for changes, the site audit is repeated on its cycle, and the listing is renewed; a brand that does not renew drops out of the database, and tubs printed with the logo before it dropped out go on carrying a logo that no longer refers to anything. The seventh stage is withdrawal: a failed market sample, a change of formulation or site not notified, or a lapsed renewal removes the product from the database, and the certification ends on the day the listing does, not on the day the last logo-printed tub is sold. Certified, then, means a product currently in the cycle with no stage failed, and the database is the only place that status can be read.
What the cycle never checks is as specific as what it does. No stage tests the dose against the label: a certified protein could carry less protein than it declares and a certified creatine less creatine, because the screen asks whether prohibited substances are present and not whether declared substances are present in the declared amount, which is a finished-product assay. No stage tests the purity of the raw material, which is a supplier's certificate of analysis. No stage tests for metals, which are a separate analysis on a separate instrument against a separate law. And no stage asks whether the product does anything, which is the register of authorised claims and the trials behind it. Certified is a narrow and valuable attestation, that the site is controlled and the product has been and continues to be screened for banned substances, and a buyer who reads it as a general mark of quality has read four attestations into one.
The worked example is not in the cycle at all and is placed accordingly: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, two capsules with the evening meal, has not applied to any banned-substance programme and does not print a logo it does not hold, so a tested athlete who wants a magnesium chooses one in a programme's database instead; what it holds are the documents the cycle never checks, a batch certificate of analysis for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium by ICP-MS from an accredited UK laboratory by lot on request, a label whose three sums agree, three ingredients, and UK manufacture under GMP and BRC, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day. The full label breakdown is here.
The verdict: for a supplement to be Informed Choice certified means it is currently inside a seven-stage cycle with no stage failed, an application and formulation review, a site audit for contamination control, pre-certification screening for the prohibited list, a listing in the public database, ongoing blind sampling from the market, annual renewal and, if any of that fails, withdrawal. It attests the site and the screen, continuously, and the database is where the status lives. It attests nothing about dose, purity, metals or efficacy, which are four other documents, and a buyer who holds the logo and those four has read the product in full.
| Stage | What happens | What it attests | What the buyer can see |
|---|---|---|---|
| One: application and formulation review | The brand applies per product; the formulation and ingredient sources are reviewed for contamination risk | A formulation and supply chain the programme accepted | Nothing directly; implied by the listing |
| Two: the site audit | The manufacturing site is audited against a contamination-control standard | A controlled site; the risk reduced at source | Nothing on the tub; the stage the logo says least about |
| Three: pre-certification testing | Samples screened at the accredited laboratory for the prohibited list | The product passed before any logo | The listing date |
| Four: grant and listing | The product in its formulation, flavour and size is entered in the public database | The certification exists in a verifiable form | The database entry; the logo only refers to it |
| Five: ongoing blind sampling | The product is bought from the market at intervals and screened; the brand does not choose the lots | A certificate that means something this year | The listing remaining current |
| Six: annual renewal | Fees, a re-review of formulation and sources, the site audit on its cycle, the listing renewed | Continuity | A lapsed listing; a logo on old tubs referring to nothing |
| Seven: withdrawal | A failed sample, an unnotified change, or a lapsed renewal removes the product | The end of the certification on the day the listing ends | The product gone from the database |
| What no stage checks; the worked exampleOurs | The dose against the label; the raw-material purity; the metals; the efficacy | Four other documents | Not in the cycle; a four-metal certificate by lot, a label whose sums agree, UK manufacture under GMP and BRC; 300mg elemental at 80% NRV; 22p a day |
What to check on the label
- Read certified as a cycle, not a moment; the product must be currently inside it.
- Check the database, not the logo; a logo on an old tub can refer to nothing.
- Value the site audit and the blind sampling, the two stages the logo says least about.
- Ask separately for dose, purity and metals; no stage of the cycle checks them.
- Read the claim against the register; certification says nothing about whether the product works.
Our brand
The worked example: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the worked example for the buying guides because its label is the kind these guides teach you to demand: 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate at 20%, 300mg elemental, 80% NRV, 2 capsules a day, 180 capsules for £19.99, 22p a day, UK made, vegan, batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium, address printed, no proprietary blend, and the same four authorised claims any honest magnesium may carry.
- Elemental magnesium per serving
- 300mg (80% NRV)
- Form
- magnesium bisglycinate 20%
- Serving
- 2 capsules a day
- Bottle
- 180 capsules, 90 days
- Price
- £19.99 (22p a day)
- Capsule
- vegetarian shell, vegan product
Questions people also ask
What does Informed Choice certified mean?
That the product is currently inside a seven-stage cycle with no stage failed: the brand applied for that product and its formulation and ingredient sources were reviewed for contamination risk; the manufacturing site was audited against a contamination-control standard; samples were screened at the programme's accredited laboratory for the substances on the anti-doping prohibited list and passed; the product was listed in the public database; it is bought from the market at intervals and screened blind; the certification is renewed annually with a re-review; and it would be withdrawn on a failed sample or a lapsed renewal; it attests the site and the screen, continuously, and nothing about dose, purity, metals or efficacy.
How is an Informed Choice product tested?
In two ways at two stages, both for the same list: before certification, samples of the product are screened at the programme's accredited laboratory for substances on the anti-doping prohibited list, by methods with stated detection limits, and the product must pass; after certification, the programme buys the product from shops and online sellers rather than from the brand, at intervals under a set regime, and screens what it bought, so that the brand cannot choose which lot is tested; the manufacturing site is separately audited for contamination control, and no stage tests the dose against the label, the raw-material purity or the metals.
Does Informed Choice certification expire?
Yes, annually, and sooner on a failure: the brand renews each year by paying the programme's fees, having the formulation and sources re-reviewed for changes and the site audit repeated on its cycle, and a product that is not renewed drops out of the public database, while a failed blind market sample, a change of formulation or manufacturing site that was not notified, or a lapsed renewal withdraws it; the certification ends on the day the listing ends and not on the day the last logo-printed tub is sold, which is why the database and not the tub is where a buyer reads whether a product is certified now.
Does Informed Choice certified mean the supplement works or is high quality?
No; it is a narrow and valuable attestation that the manufacturing site is controlled against contamination and that the product has been and continues to be screened for banned substances, and it says nothing about the four things a buyer most often reads into it: whether the dose matches the label, which is a finished-product assay; whether the raw material is pure, which is a supplier's certificate of analysis; whether metals are below the legal limits, which is a separate analysis under a separate law; and whether the product does anything, which is the register of authorised claims and the trials behind it; a buyer holds the logo and those four documents to have read the product in full.
Is this site's magnesium Informed Choice certified?
No, and it says so rather than printing a logo it does not hold: it has not applied to any banned-substance programme, so a tested athlete who wants a magnesium chooses one in a programme's database instead; what it holds are the documents the certification cycle never checks, a batch certificate of analysis for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium by ICP-MS from an accredited UK laboratory by lot on request, a label of 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV whose three sums agree, three ingredients, and UK manufacture under GMP and BRC, at 180 for £19.99 and 22p a day.
Sources
- The sports supplement certification programmes: Informed Sport, Informed Choice, BSCG and NSF Certified for Sport test products or batches for banned substances, the assurance competing athletes rely on. https://sport.wetestyoutrust.com/
- UK Anti-Doping guidance on supplements: strict liability means an athlete is responsible for any prohibited substance in their sample regardless of how it got there, contaminated supplements have produced UK anti-doping violations, and batch testing under a recognised programme is the risk-reduction step the agency describes while stating no supplement can be guaranteed free of prohibited substances. https://www.ukad.org.uk/athletes/supplements
- The independent supplement testing services: subscription laboratories that purchase products at retail and test them for label accuracy, contaminants and disintegration, publishing pass and fail results by product, the one kind of review that reports what was in the tub rather than how it felt. PubMed record
- ISO/IEC 17025, the standard for testing and calibration laboratories: accreditation to it by a national body attests to a laboratory's technical competence and the validity of its results for the methods in scope, and is what makes a certificate of analysis a document someone has audited. https://www.ukas.com/accreditation/standards/laboratory-accreditation/