WELCOME TO OUR PRODUCT RANGE COMPARED BY INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS
Have you ever wondered if you are actually getting what you pay for?
I know we have...
Protein is considered one of the most expensive nutrients in the food chain and with a growing number of brands competing for market share, it goes without saying that each is trying to gain a competitive edge. One way to gain this advantage is to provide customers with a large quantity of protein relative to price. This may beg the question 'Are we receiving a good quality protein, with a balanced amino profile or are we receiving an amino-spiked product, made to look like it has a high protein content?'
What do we as consumers normally look for when buying a protein powder?
One consideration is the value for money we are getting, especially in todays tightening economic climate. That value is usually based on the amount of protein we are receiving.
Buy what if we weren't actually receiving what we thought we were? Wouldn't you like to know exactly what you were getting for your money?
Well, various Brands and retail outlets have had certain products independently tested.
See the collection of test results in the table below. The results show actual measured quantity of protein per 100g vs the amount claimed on the nutritional label. These figures do however need to be taken with a pinch of salt as protein quantities vary between flavours (see the individual product pages for more detail). It should also be noted, according to the regulations relating to the Labelling and Advertising of Foodstuffs for Compliance Purposes (guideline 5, R.146 of 1 march 2010), a tolerance of 25% is allowed for nutritional declaration of protein if the product contains more than 10g of protein per 100g. So even though a tested quantity may be less than the declared quantity, as long is its within 25%, the declaration is still legally compliant.
Be sure to also click on the 'Show Untested Products' button to view the complete list.
SUPPSLAB believes that products should be tested, but what does testing mean and who should be doing the tests?
We believe that for a product to be truly independently tested, the process should follow one of two methods:
1 - A factory sealed and non-expired product be selected, at random, from an outlet, off the shelf, and transported under ideal conditions to an accredited test facility for testing or;
2 - A factory sealed and non-expired product be selected, at random, from the end of a manufacturers production line and transported under ideal conditions to an accredited test facility for testing.
In both cases, products should preferably be selected without prior arrangement and by the testing laboratory or an independent party, not affiliated with the brand or product being tested. Collecting 'Without prior arrangement' would ensure that a product is not 'fixed' for test purposes.
(Click here to read the remainder of the article)
Following option one above, manufacturers may claim that a product could be tampered with after leaving the factory or not stored under the ideal conditions through the supply chain or on outlet shelves, and thus quality of the product may be compromised. While this is true and does make logical sense, we as consumers are purchasing products form store shelves and not from the end of a manufacturers production line. That said, if a products test results are sub-par, the problem could fall anywhere within the supply chain and possibly back to the manufacturing plant.
Therefore, from a consumer's point of view, we would prefer products to be tested 'off the shelf' so to speak.
In reality, this doesn’t happen, or has possibly not happened until now, but rather having products tested before leaving the factory is a more common practice among manufacturers.
In an attempt to provide consumers with accurate information, the SUPPSLAB team has browsed brand websites in search of products test results. The outcome… hardly any of the brands seen on our website have published such results, or if they have, they are not conveniently accessible to the general public.
Nevertheless, some manufacturers do have each of their products routinely 'independently tested' (Albeit off the production line) and publish the results, which is a fantastic step towards maintaining a high quality product and customer trust.
Those brands, for which we could not find published test results, one could assume that either they do test products and don't share these results with their customers or they don't test products at all.
In our opinion, believing is seeing, and not seeing official test results could leave you thinking... Hmmm?
We invite manufacturers to submit SANAS approved official lab test results. What better way to promote your products and gain consumer trust than to prove it to them?
The table below can be sorted by any of the columns, simply by clicking on the column heading.
PLEASE NOTE:
- Prices displayed are based on the analysed protein content per 100g vs product cost of the most economical package size (In most cases, the biggest product package available is the most econoical but this is not always the case).
- Quantities appearing in the 'Analysed Quantity' column are sourced from the most recent lab test result in our database. Quantities may vary between flavours. The tables are for reference purposes only and to be used at own risk.
