If you compete in a tested sport, you carry a risk most people never think about: you are responsible for what is in your body, whether or not you knew it was there. Anti-doping operates on strict liability. “It was in my protein bar” is not a defence.
That is the problem Informed Sport exists to solve.
The contamination problem
Sports nutrition products are not usually contaminated on purpose. The risk is cross-contamination — shared production lines, shared equipment, ingredients sourced from suppliers who also handle substances on the prohibited list.
Independent testing has repeatedly found supplements containing substances not declared on the label. For most people that is a curiosity. For a tested athlete, it is a career.
What Informed Sport does differently
Plenty of products claim to be “tested”. The distinction that matters is what is tested.
Informed Sport, run by LGC, tests every batch before release. Samples are analysed for substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list, and the certification applies to that batch specifically. Products are also sampled from retail shelves — so what is being checked is what you can actually buy, not a favourable sample sent to a lab.
That per-batch approach is the important bit. A one-off certificate from two years ago tells you about a batch that was consumed long ago. Batch testing is an ongoing commitment, and it costs the manufacturer money every single time.
Does it matter if you are not a professional?
If you are never tested, certification will not keep you out of trouble — because you were never at risk of that particular trouble.
But it is still a reasonable signal. A company putting every batch through independent testing is a company doing quality control it could quietly skip. That tells you something about how the rest of the process is run.
And “professional” is a wider net than people assume. Testing reaches into amateur and age-group competition in plenty of sports. If you race at any level, it is worth knowing whether it applies to you before you need to know.
Where we stand
Our entire High Protein range is Informed Sport certified — Cherry, Chocolate Fudge, Mint Chocolate and Chocolate Coconut. Every batch, tested before it reaches you.
Our Energy range is not certified, and we would rather say so plainly than let the logo do ambiguous work across the whole catalogue. If you are a tested athlete, the protein bars are the ones to reach for.
The certificates are public. See them here →
This is also why registered performance nutritionists are comfortable putting our bars in front of the athletes they work with — including Dr Rianne Costello, who uses them with the elite figure skaters she supports. Meet our ambassadors →
What to check on any product
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Is it batch tested, or was one batch tested once? Ask which.
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Can you see the certificate? It should be public and current.
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Does the claim cover the specific product you are buying, or only part of the range?
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Does the pack carry the logo, or does only the website mention it?
That fourth one catches more products than you would expect.
Informed Sport certified protein, nut-free and gluten-free.
Shop the protein range →
