We know this might be hard to believe, but some manufacturers are more concerned with making money than distributing quality products. Shocking, right? Who would be soulless enough to put profits over people?
Turns out, there are too many to list. That’s why it’s critical for consumers to know that any and all claims on product labels are accurate and verified.
Some companies get bullied into transparency, but others actually want an independent agency to inspect their products so that they can build trust with potential customers and prove they have nothing to hide. Look for these seals of approval.
USDA ORGANIC
The USDA Organic certification ensures purity in consumable goods by mandating that at least 95% of the ingredients in a food or beverage are grown without genetic engineering or modi cation, non-organic pesticides or herbicides, ionizing radiation, or sewage sludge as fertilizer.
Because sales of organic products are among the fastest growing—the plant-based supplement industry has experienced double-digit growth—this seal matters.
NON-GMO
GMOs—genetically modi ed organisms—are fruits, vegetables, and produce grown from seeds that have been chemically altered to grow faster and larger, to resist disease and insect damage, and to spoil less rapidly.
American consumers tend to be spooked by GMOs: Roughly 80% aim to steer clear of them. The Non-GMO Project provides third-party verification that products are non-GMO, not only in their source ingredients but also in the manufacturing and packaging process.
More than 43,000 products carry the Non-GMO Project seal. Look for it if you’re trying to avoid GMOs— which you should be.
NSF SAFE WATER
More than $14 billion isspent annually on bottled water, with more than 11.7 billion gallons being consumed nationally. But some bottled water has been shown to contain hazardous materials such as arsenic, lead, nitrates, pesticides, and even radioactive elements like radium.
NSF International verifies and provides certification that the sourcing, disinfecting, treatment, and bottling process is uncontaminated.
So when downing your next bottle of H2O, keep an eye out for the NSF International logo.
CHROMADEX- APPROVED SUPPLEMENTS
The controversy around protein spiking—that is, adding cheap amino acids to a supplement to boost protein content and in ate pricing—helped create the necessity for purity certification in the nutritional supplement industry.
ChromaDex is an independent company that’s become the leader in purity verification of protein, creatine, and BCAA supplements. ChromaDex conducts stringent testing to ensure that a supplement’s ingredients are not just clearly identified but also free of contaminants like heavy metals and microbials.
With protein supplements, for instance, ChromaDex performs tight analysis to ensure that the advertised protein nitrogen quantity is both present and of high quality. The company begins with nitrogen testing to determine total protein, then runs an amino acid profile to test for free-form and bound aminos. (Too many free-form aminos signal possible spiking.)
In addition to independent product evaluations, ChromaDex inspects participating vendors, from their manufacturing facilities and back to their sourcing of raw materials. This validates the purity, quality, efficacy, and transparent labeling of all supps carrying the ChromaDex Quality Verified seal.
To keep your body healthy and performing at its optimal level, look for the ChromaDex Quality Verified seal when buying supplements.
