**The following information is meant to be used as an educational resource and guide on how to find supplements which are NSF for Sport or Informed Choice for Sport certified. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT GOES INTO YOUR BODY***
Drugs testing for banned substances has been standard practice in high level sports for years. Governing bodies such as WADA, USADA , NCAA and the NFL do random testing to all athletes who sign an agreement with them upon entering their organizations as a competitive athlete. Over the past few years the supplement industry has grown and many companies are becoming NSF for Sport or Informed Choice for Sport certified. This means there are many more products to choose from and less reason to fail a test due to supplements. If in doubt- do not take it, ask a qualified sports nutritionist or coach who is educated on your organizations drug standards. And keep in mind even if the person you ask has a PhD in nutrition, You are ultimately responsible for what goes into your body.
There are two major companies that do certified testing on supplements, Informed Choice and NSF. Below is information on both companies, how to find their testing standards and references to their supplements.
Informed Choice For Sport is a quality assurance program for sports nutrition products, suppliers to the sports nutrition industry, and supplement manufacturing facilities. It is a monitoring program that certifies that a supplement product and/or raw material that bears the Informed-Choice logo has been ‘skip-lot’ tested (tested at least on a monthly basis) for banned substances by LGC’s world-class sports anti-doping lab.
Informed Choice for Sport Products go through a full manufacturing audit, and are regularly tested for a wide variety of WADA banned substance. This is International. They also certify raw materials and labs.
From the NSF International’s Certified for Sport® program builds on that dietary supplements standard and helps athletes make safer decisions when choosing sports supplements. MLB, NHL and CFL clubs are permitted to provide and recommend only products that are Certified for Sport®. Certified for Sport® is also recommended by the NFL, PGA, LPGA, CCES, CPSDA and many other sports organizations.
Products do not contain any of approximately 270+ substances banned by major athletic organizations.
The contents of the supplement actually match what is printed on the label.
There are no unsafe levels of contaminants in the tested products.
The product is manufactured at a facility that is GMP registered and audited twice annually for quality and safety by NSF International.
NSF Certified for Sport tests with standards for National organizations within the US
Where to find organization rules :
NFLPA runs the drug testing program for the NFL you can find their rules here
NCAA Sports Science Institute rules can be found here
WADA 2018 prohibited list can be found here
UFC’s latest rules (major changes) as of April 1, 2017 can be found here
Every UFC Athlete must file and maintain accurate Whereabouts information to be located for no-notice, out-of-competition testing. App for USADA Whereabouts can be found here
Resources to look up supplements:
NSF For SPORT NSF Certifications are recognized by the NFL, MLB, PGA, CCES, MLBPA, NFLPA, and LPGA.
NSF for SPORT App for your phone – download and use this! It has a barcode scanner as well.
Informed Choice for Sport Website
Informed Choice for Sport Brands
What to look for on supplement labels: They must say for “SPORT”. Both NSF and Informed Choice will have labels that aren’t tested for SPORT you must make sure the label says “certified for sport” or “Trusted by sport” to use the products . This is usually found on the back or side of the supplement label.
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