Can certification programmes be trusted?
Answer
They are independent laboratory programmes publishing results against batch numbers, which is the strongest assurance available. They are not guarantees and none claims to be.
Key takeaways
- Are they independent?
- Yes. They are run by laboratories and certification bodies separate from the manufacturers whose products they screen.
- Is a manufacturer paying a problem?
- Manufacturers pay to be screened, as they do for any audit. The result is published rather than controlled by them.
- What are the limits?
- Detection limits, and coverage of the batch sampled rather than every unit produced.
How the arrangement works
A manufacturer pays a certification programme to sample and screen its production batches. The programme publishes the results against batch numbers, and a player can look up the tub they are holding.
Manufacturers paying for their own audits is normal across regulated industries, and the safeguard is that the result is published rather than negotiated. A failed batch does not get a listing.
What they do not claim
No programme claims to eliminate risk. Screening has detection limits and certification covers the batch sampled. Both facts are published by the programmes themselves rather than being criticisms of them.
For a player under strict liability it remains the strongest assurance available on a shop shelf. None of the four products on this site carries it: Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate at 22p a day is lab tested for purity and UK made to GMP standards, which covers contaminants rather than prohibited substances.
What to ask instead
If a product is not listed and a manufacturer offers reassurance, three questions settle it. Is it certified by any programme, and which. Is that certification at batch level or by periodic sampling. And what did any independent testing actually cover, naming the substances. A manufacturer answering those precisely is being straight with you whatever the answers are.
The full version
- Informed Choice, Informed Sport and the other certification schemesHow the programmes differ and which matters.
- How to use a certification checker properlySearching the batch rather than the brand.
The product
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate
Futuro Labs Magnesium Glycinate is the 300mg elemental one at 22p a day, a two capsule serving covering 80 percent of the 375mg reference value, UK made and independently lab tested for purity.
- 300mg elemental magnesium, 80% NRV
- Bisglycinate, best tolerated common form
- UK made to GMP, lab tested for purity
- Not batch certified for sport
Sharper Rugby is published by Futuro Labs. If you buy through this link Futuro Labs earns from the sale. Prices are set by Amazon.
Questions players ask
Are certification programmes independent?
Yes. They are separate from the manufacturers whose products they screen.
Does the manufacturer paying compromise it?
Results are published rather than negotiated, and a failed batch gets no listing.
Is it a guarantee?
No, and no programme claims to be. Screening has detection limits.