Third Party Tested Supplements Keep You Safe And Protect Your Career!

Minimize your risk for consuming banned substances by ONLY purchasing supplements listed by third party testing companies.

What substances are risky? These companies test for banned substances like anabolic steroids, painkillers, narcotics, masking agents, growth factors and more. Most sports organizations adhere to the list of banned substances published by the World Anti-Doping Association, which is updated annually. The list is published in October, with testing for the updated list to take effect on January 1 of the following year. There are slightly different lists for NCAA and a few of the professional sporting associations, based on the specific needs of the sport or the population involved.

In the US, supplement companies don’t have a set of safety or testing criteria to meet. Supplement companies don’t have to show safety or effectiveness before putting a product on the shelf, figure out dosages or look for side effects. However, pharmaceutical companies have rigorous testing for safety, dosages, and side effects. Food companies have a variety of food safety tests as well as the Nutrition Facts Panel and labeling of common allergens, gluten status, and religious blessings. This doesn’t make sense!

The NCAA and the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) both do drug testing of student athletes, checking for use of banned substances. Most professional athletic associations conduct drug tests. Some businesses drug test employees. Any athlete that wants to compete at a high level should make sure they pick safe products! Nobody wants their results made invalid by a positive drug test.

So where do you go to find safe supplements that don’t contain any banned substances? Third party testing programs. There are two types:

1. Label verification programs. These programs confirm that what’s in the bottle matches what’s on the label. If the product says it contains whey protein and calcium, the bottle does indeed contain whey protein and calcium in the approximate amounts listed on the label.
2. Banned substance programs. These programs do label verification AND test for banned substances. Choose only these products if you want to stay healthy and pass your drug tests!

Companies that do banned substance testing

1. NSF Certified for Sport. They have a Dietary Supplement program that does both label verification and banned substances testing. No doubt you recognize their logo, as NSF certifies a wide variety of products. Many of these products are sold at major retailers. Look for specific lot numbers and purchase those tested lots.
2. Informed Choice. Informed Choice (yellow logo) provides testing of both endurance and power/strength products, along with specific lot numbers. Beware of their “lite” program, Informed Sport (green logo), which helps supplement companies set up a safe supply chain and only tests a few batches instead of every batch of product.
3. Banned Substances Control Group. Originally BSCG conducted equine and canine blood doping tests, but expanded into supplement testing a few years ago. Because of their background, they test for far more compounds than WADA prohibits.

Companies that do label verification

1. NSF Certified for Sport
2. Consumer Lab. Pay for an annual subscription (~$4/year) and you can see the results of CL’s tests. Unlike the other companies listed here, CL buys products for testing and publishes the results on their website for members. The other testing firms are hired by a supplement company to test that company’s products.
3. US Pharmacopeia. USP doesn’t test many products, but they do test a popular brand found in major retailers. Most of this brand’s products are vitamins, minerals, and multivitamins, so they’re a good choice for the athlete who needs more iron or omega-3 fatty acids.
4. Aegis Shield. For $3 a year, you can log into their app or website and see if a supplement company listed any banned substances on their product labels. Products can be found by barcode scan or name and are given a red/yellow/green grade. Only consider products with green results.

Option for if you don’t know the above…

1. Operation Supplement Safety, US Department of Defense. This is a set of seven questions designed to help service members easily assess the quality of a supplement (vitamin, mineral, protein powder, pre workout, random sketchy scoop of white powder from that guy who’s jacked). If you don’t end up with a score of 4 or more, don’t use the supplement!

If you have any questions about what supplements are right for you or how to find safe and effective options, contact Dr. Schubert for more information! Or get the details on pre-workout supplements here!

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