Why Third-party Testing of Supplements Matters

Third-party certifications inform the consumer about the identity, strengths (dosages), quality, and purity of products. They essentially verify that the supplement contains the exact ingredients and dosages that are indicated on the nutrition label. Secondly, they also ensure that the supplement company is following current good manufacturing practice standards (GMP). Third-party certified products are therefore audited on a regular basis, ultimately making them one of the safest bets on the supplement market.

Informed Sport and NSF are considered the ‘gold standard’ third-party organizations for certifying supplements, especially those that are used in sports (Figure 1). They ensure that the supplement contains the ingredients listed on the nutrition label, that the dosages are what they are supposed to be, and that the product does not contain any banned substances that are on the World Anti-Doping Agency list (WADA).

Figure 1. Third-party seals ensure ingredient purity and the lowest chance of banned substances in products.

Thus, while third-party organizations test for ingredient purity, they do not test if the product is effective or safe. This may seem confusing, but ensuring efficacy and safety is a separate quality check-point, which can only be done by providing scientific evidence from a randomized clinical trial by scientists.

The best way to study the effectiveness of a supplement is to use the same supplement that you can buy on the shelf. Most often, brands use previously published research that indicate the effectiveness of a raw ingredient versus their actual ‘on the shelf’ supplement. Often times the research is poorly conducted or the brand doesn’t use the ingredient in the right way, which can lead to the supplement being ineffective, or worse, unsafe. Ideally each brand should be looking to third party contract research groups to study if their ‘on the shelf’ product has the claimed benefits. However, most brands refrain from doing this due to the cost and time that this kind of research can take.

This is exactly why StayAbove Nutrition’s multi-ingredient supplements, such as Muscle 5, are of superior quality versus other products. We make sure that our supplements are licensed by Health Canada, third-party certified, and also proven in randomized clinical trials (Figure 2).

Figure 2. StayAbove Nutrition ensures that all multi-ingredient products, such as Muscle 5, are licensed, third-party certified, and research proven.