Informed Sport and Informed Choice are certification programmes run by the same laboratory, LGC, using, LGC says, the same ISO/IEC 17025 accredited methods and the same banned-substance screen. The difference is when testing happens: Informed Sport tests every batch before release and blind-tests from retail afterwards; Informed Choice is retail monitoring: products already on sale are sampled and “regularly tested”.
That answers “Informed Sport vs Informed Choice, what is the difference”, and it is evergreen: in the certifier pages read here, no rule or programme changed this month. On 20 September 2026 this desk read both LGC FAQs and LGC’s comparison page, then set the two marks beside NSF Certified for Sport and BSCG on the one axis that matters once a pre-workout tub is in your hand: was this batch tested?
What is the difference between Informed Sport and Informed Choice?
Both marks belong to LGC. The Informed Sport FAQ says the programme was established in 2008 by LGC; LGC’s comparison page adds that it was developed with UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). The Informed Choice FAQ dates its programme to 2007. Both FAQs carry the same accreditation block: ISO/IEC 17025 for supplement analysis since 2003, UKAS laboratory 1187, A2LA certificate 3244.01. LGC’s comparison page says both test for “more than 285 banned substances and impurities”.
LGC’s own words on the split: “The first difference is based around the frequency of testing.” Informed Sport means every batch or lot, every flavour, is tested before release, then blind-tested from retail; the certification-process page says blind purchases start at one to four a year and fall to a minimum of one once a history is built.
Informed Choice is, in LGC’s words, “a global retail monitoring and quality assurance programme” for people with an active lifestyle who are not under elite doping measures.
Why “regularly tested” is not “every batch”
The Informed Choice FAQ says products bearing the logo “are regularly tested for banned substances”. In the FAQ text this desk read on 20 September 2026 there is no interval, no sampling rate and no “every batch” wording. That is a statement about one page, not a claim that Informed Choice never tests a batch; LGC’s comparison page calls the programme retail monitoring.
For a lifter who is not drug tested, retail monitoring by an ISO 17025 lab is a real contamination check. For one who is, the gap is the point. We made the general argument in certification is a batch claim, not a brand claim; Informed Choice is its cleanest example.
Four marks on a pre-workout tub, one question: was this batch tested?
Every cell is the certifier’s own wording, read on 20 September 2026, except BSCG’s figures and its description of NSF, read 11 September 2026 (linked below).
| Mark | What the certifier says about batch testing | Stated screen | Batch lookup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Informed Sport (LGC) | “tests every single batch of a product before it’s released to market”, then continual blind testing (FAQ) | “more than 285” substances (LGC) | Search by batch number, brand or product on sport.wetestyoutrust.com or the app |
| Informed Choice (LGC) | “regularly tested for banned substances”; no interval in the FAQ read | “more than 285” (same LGC screen, per LGC’s comparison page) | Search by brand, product name or product type on choice.wetestyoutrust.com |
| NSF Certified for Sport | Per-lot frequency not stated in the nsfsport.com text read; BSCG describes it as “variable by product and manufacturer” | “280+” (NSF news teaser on its own site) | Search “by name, keyword or lot number” on nsfsport.com |
| BSCG Certified Drug Free | “Every finished product lot” (BSCG comparison, 8 June 2026) | “450+” substances (BSCG) | BSCG public product database (“Yes”, per BSCG) |
Two caveats. The BSCG figures sit on a page written to grade BSCG against its rivals and are, BSCG says, “based on program documentation”: self-reported. The “variable” NSF frequency is BSCG’s description, not NSF’s. Our Informed Sport vs NSF vs BSCG piece covers the same three on substance count.
What a drug-tested athlete should take from this
USADA’s Supplement Connect page, read the same day, says supplements are regulated post-market, so the FDA does not evaluate contents before sale, and that “no dietary supplement can be guaranteed to be 100 percent risk-free”. USADA recommends NSF Certified for Sport as the best way to reduce that risk; NSF’s site says the programme is “recognized by” USADA, MLB, the NHL and the CFL. Recognised, not approved, is their word.
BSCG puts it plainly: testing reduces risk, it cannot eliminate it. For a tested lifter, a mark whose certifier states every batch is tested before release, with your batch number found in the database, beats a mark that samples the line from retail. Then check what your governing body recognises. For how thin the batch-tested end of the shelf is, see our list of NSF Certified for Sport pre-workouts.
FAQ
Is Informed Sport the same as Informed Choice?
No. They are sister programmes from the same laboratory, LGC, using, by LGC’s account, the same ISO/IEC 17025 accredited methods and the same screen of more than 285 substances. Informed Sport, established in 2008, tests every batch before release. Informed Choice, established in 2007, is a retail monitoring programme whose products are “regularly tested”.
Does Informed Choice test every batch?
The Informed Choice FAQ this desk read on 20 September 2026 says products carrying the logo “are regularly tested for banned substances”. In that text there is no interval, no sampling rate and no “every batch” wording. LGC’s comparison page describes Informed Choice as retail monitoring: the logo says the product line is sampled, not that your tub was screened before it shipped.
How do I check if a supplement batch is Informed Sport tested?
Find the batch or lot number on the tub and search it on sport.wetestyoutrust.com or in the Informed Sport app. The Informed Sport FAQ recommends verifying by batch number, brand, product or formulation, and its certification-process page says every batch-tested product will be displayed on the site. If the batch is not listed, the logo alone is not evidence that it was tested.
Which is better for drug-tested athletes, Informed Sport or Informed Choice?
For an athlete under doping control, Informed Sport, because its certifier states that every batch was tested before release and then blind-tested from retail. Informed Choice is LGC’s mark for active people not under elite doping rules, by LGC’s own description. Check which programmes your governing body recognises too: USADA’s Supplement Connect page recommends NSF Certified for Sport.
Nothing on this page is medical advice, none of it has been evaluated by the FDA, and no certification mark is a guarantee. We tested nothing and named no product. We read what four certifiers publish about themselves.