Which whey protein brands are third-party tested?
6 of the 33 whey protein products we track have their exact package named by a certifier. 5 more are certified by production batch instead, which names no package. Another 4 come from a product line a certifier lists, but at a package size the certificate does not name. 16 appear in no database we searched. 2 match a listing that may cover them, and whether it does is not settled either way, so they are listed separately below rather than counted as absent.
A certifier lists a specific package against each certificate. A brand can sell the same formula in several sizes, or several flavors, and have one of them listed, so “this brand is NSF certified” can be true while the tub in your hand is not the tub NSF tested. The middle group below is that gap.
Flavors matter here in a way they do not elsewhere: NSF lists some brands flavor by flavor, so a vanilla tub can be certified while the chocolate one next to it is not. Where a brand sells an unflavored version we price that one, and say so on the row.
Certifier names this exact package, 6
The strongest evidence available here. For NSF, the listing names the package size sold; it was opened, its package text recorded, and its ID is on the product page. For USP, which names products rather than packages, the product is in USP's directory and the USP Verified Mark is on this package's own label, and both are on the product page.
| Product | Type | Per 25 g protein | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| BulkSupplements.com Whey Protein Concentrate 80% (1 kg) | Concentrate | $1.65 | 1820661 |
| BulkSupplements.com Whey Protein Isolate 90% (1 kg) | Isolate | $1.79 | 1797161 |
| Core Med Science Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla (30 servings) | Whey | $2.29 | 1811455 |
| Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate (30 servings) | Whey | $2.58 | 1513727 |
| Bare Performance Nutrition Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla | Isolate | $2.60 | 1778885 |
| Momentous Whey Protein Isolate, Unflavored | Isolate | $3.50 | 1518123 |
Certified batch by batch, no package named, 5
Certified, but by production batch rather than by package: Informed Sport, Informed Choice and IFOS test and report lot by lot, so their listings name no tub, bottle or count. That is real independent testing of the product; it is not a statement that the package in your hand was the one tested.
| Product | Type | Per 25 g protein | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (10.18 lb) | Blend | $1.61 | 1256427 |
| Sports Research Whey Protein Isolate, Unflavored (907 g) | Isolate | $1.81 | Unknown |
| Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (5.05 lb) | Blend | $1.86 | 1256427 |
| Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (1.98 lb) | Blend | $2.68 | 1256427 |
| Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (0.68 lb) | Blend | $2.76 | 1256427 |
Listed, but not at this size, 4
The brand and product appear in the database at a different package size. Not a failure, and not a confirmation either.
| Product | Type | Per 25 g protein | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bare Performance Nutrition Whey Protein, Vanilla | Concentrate | $2.04 | 1635094 |
| Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla (30 servings) | Whey | $2.58 | 1513728 |
| Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate, Travel Packs (14 packets) | Whey | $4.08 | 1513727 |
| Thorne Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla, Travel Packs (14 packets) | Whey | $4.08 | 1513728 |
Searched, and not found, 16
Not listed by NSF Certified for Sport when we read its full directory. These programs certify what a company submits to them, so a product can be absent from the database simply because it was never entered, which is not a finding against it.
Not settled either way, 2
A certifier's list holds an entry that may cover these, and the entry does not say whether it does. Neither confirmed nor absent; each product page has the detail.
| Product | Type | Per 25 g protein | Certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Animal 100% Whey Protein, Chocolate (4 lb) | Blend | $1.35 | Unknown |
| Animal Whey (Iso Whey Protein Blend), Chocolate (4 lb) | Blend | $1.38 | Unknown |
NSF Certified for Sport, the Informed programs' published product lists, the IFOS directory and USP's directory are each read in full, and each product page names the day. A product missing from this page has not failed a check. It has not had one.
Where to buy: the whey protein shortlist
The pick is the cheapest certified product, at the exact package sold where the certifier names packages, with no adverse finding on record, a price its retailer let us read recently, and no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving; per delivered dose where the retailer publishes a delivery rate. Where none does, it is the cheapest such product before delivery, and it says how far the order is from free delivery. It is the same pick the category page shows. Any answer shown beside it is the cheapest under a different rule and says so on its own line; answers that cost more than the pick fold under one line until you ask for them.
How these lines are chosen
Among 33 products and 33 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of the size in the heading, priced the same way as the per-dose figure beside it. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate; a cheaper product with an unpublished rate is on its own line, or in the full list below.
Full comparison of every product in this category: Whey Protein. Every question we answer: the question index.
What this rests on: prices we last recorded at the retailer named on each product page, which go stale, and each page says when it was checked; the products we track, not every product sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among the stores; listings and labels read at the source, each linked from the page. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.