NSF Certified for Sport vs Informed Sport: what is the difference?
They are not the same test, and the difference matters more than the logos suggest. The short version: Informed Sport and Informed Choice are principally banned-substance screens — they check that a batch is not contaminated with substances prohibited in sport. NSF Certified for Sport and USP Verified also confirm the label: that the product contains what it says, in the amount it says, without harmful levels of specified contaminants.
So a product carrying an Informed mark has been independently tested, but not necessarily for whether it holds the dose on the label. If what you want to know is “am I getting 5 g of creatine”, that is a different question from “is this safe to take under drug testing”, and only some of these programs answer it.
| NSF Certified for Sport | USP Verified | Informed Sport | Informed Choice | BSCG Certified Drug Free | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confirms the label’s dose | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Yes |
| Tests for heavy metals / contaminants | Yes | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Yes |
| Screens for substances banned in sport | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reviews manufacturing | On-site audit | On-site audit | Paper-based review | Paper-based review | Paper-based review |
| Testing frequency | Periodic | Periodic | Every batch | Periodic | Every batch |
| Products we track holding this | 16 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Each column is taken from that program's own published description of its process: NSF Certified for Sport · USP Verified · Informed Sport · Informed Choice · BSCG Certified Drug Free. “Not stated” means the program does not publish a clear answer — it does not mean no.
Why we rank them the way we do
Our verification tiers put NSF and USP in tier A and the Informed programs and BSCG in tier B. The reason is the label-confirmation row above, not the presence of testing — every program in this table tests finished product, and every one of them reviews manufacturing in some form. Tier B is not a warning. See How we compare.
- Servings per container are derived from net weight rather than read off the label, except where a note on the product says otherwise.
- Most source records have not been checked by a person. The ones that have say so.
- Amazon and Walmart are not included, so “cheapest” means cheapest among the retailers we track.
- Prices go stale. Each one shows when it was last checked, and says so when it is older than the retailer allows us to cache it.
Full comparison of every product in this category: Creatine Monohydrate. How these numbers are made: How we compare.