Sports nutrition programme launched in Japan to test for banned substances

20-Dec-2016 - Last updated on 20-Dec-2016 at 00:10 GMT

Japanese brands and manufactures will be helped to achieve certification. ©iStock

LGC has launched its sports nutrition supplements testing programme ‘Informed-Choice’ in Japan with the support of the brand DNS and auditing specialists Biohealth Research.

Informed-Choice is a quality assurance certification program for the sports nutrition industry. All supplements products that carry the Informed-Choice logo have been tested for substances banned in sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

According to LGC, DNS has certified 22 products, while Biohealth Research will support other Japanese brands and manufactures in becoming certified on the globally-recognised programme.

The announcement was made last week at a jointly-held press conference in the Tokyo International Forum, the venue for weightlifting at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

“The Japanese sports nutrition industry has been seeking an anti-doping programme that properly meets its needs for several years now, and Informed-Choice allows brands to provide products that have undergone a rigorous manufacturing audit and are also tested on a monthly basis,” said Terence O’Rorke, director of business development for LGC’s supplements service.

“We are delighted that DNS has shown such a significant commitment to providing quality, tested products for Japanese athletes and consumers, while Biohealth’s auditing expertise in Japan will be critical in assisting other brands to join DNS on the programme.”

Sample management

Biohealth Research will provide the auditing expertise required for other Japanese brands to certify products on Informed-Choice, as well as the management of samples to be tested at LGC’s anti-doping laboratory in the UK.

Informed-Choice was set up by LGC in 2007. For a product to become certified it must pass a strict manufacturing audit and have five samples tested for substances banned in sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Once certified, the product is tested once per month under ‘blind’ conditions, which involves LGC purchasing the product and performing analysis without the direct involvement of the brand.

Currently there are more than 630 products certified across Informed-Choice and its sister programme Informed-Sport.