Quality certifications

GMP Certified Facilities

GMPs are federal quality standards that must be implemented and maintained to ensure proper standards in manufacturing processes, and nutritional supplement products are consistently processed, manufactured, packaged, labeled, and stored in accordance with these standards.

Thorne has achieved and maintained NSF certification for its South Carolina manufacturing campus. See Thorne’s “GMP Certified NSF/ANSI 455-2: Dietary Supplements” certificate awarded by NSF on Thorne’s Quality page.

The GMP NSF certificate means that a manufacturing facility, like Thorne’s, has the appropriate facilities, equipment, standard operating procedures, employee training, and quality controls in place to ensure that high-quality nutritional supplements are being manufactured.

This means a consumer can have peace of mind when taking a Thorne supplement, because Thorne’s South Carolina manufacturing facility is certified as meeting the highest quality standards set for nutritional supplement safety and quality.

At Thorne, we believe every nutritional supplement company should retain independent third parties to audit their manufacturing processes and test their products to ensure compliance with the federal GMP regulations.

The Pure Difference

Certified Gluten-Free by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization, www.gluten.org 

Gluten Free GMO Free Vegetarian Vegan 

NSF Certified for Sport (Klean Athlete and Thorne)

Because athletes need to know their supplements are trustworthy and compliant, every batch of an NSF Certified for Sport® product is tested for compliance with label claims and to ensure the absence of nearly 300 substances banned by many major athletic organizations.

NSF Meaning: What NSF Certified Means for Supplements and Why It Matters

NSF is an independent and accredited non-governmental organization whose mission is to protect and improve global human health.

Founded in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation for the purpose of standardizing sanitation and food safety requirements, NSF – as it is known today ‒ provides services in 180 countries with 3,000 employees. Manufacturers, government regulators, and consumers look to NSF to facilitate the development of public health standards that protect food, water, consumer products, and the environment. NSF tests, audits, and certifies products and systems. Certified products earn the NSF mark, which is respected worldwide by consumers, manufacturers, retailers, and regulatory agencies.

Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, NSF oversees the development of many rigorous health standards and certification programs that protect food, water, and consumer products – including nutritional supplements.

Why certification matters in the supplement industry 

The nutritional supplement industry is growing exponentially. In 1994 there were 4,000 nutritional supplements in the U.S. market; by 2014, there were more than 90,000.¹ According to NSF, there are now more than 15,000 nutritional supplement manufacturing facilities worldwide, with more than half of these facilities being located outside the United States.

A report of nutritional supplement manufacturing facilities that are registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) indicates that fewer than 5% of these facilities are audited on an annual basis.² And when these facilities are audited, two-thirds are found to have significant quality violations, with many having multiple severe violations.

Given the fast pace at which nutritional supplements can enter the marketplace, and reports that suggest some of these products don’t actually contain the ingredients and/or quantities shown on the product label, consumers have cause to be concerned. With such a confusing array of information in the public domain, it is difficult to determine which manufacturer’s supplements to purchase.

For ensuring safe and quality manufacturing standards, NSF certification has long been the gold standard for quality in the nutritional supplement industry. NSF certification comprises ingredient and product testing, independent facility inspections, and ongoing audits to ensure product protection for consumers.

What does NSF certified means for the everyday supplement user?

NSF’s ongoing auditing function is the key difference of their NSF-approved certification program. NSF certified products must be produced in a manufacturing facility that is inspected up to twice a year by NSF to comply with the U.S. FDA’s Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) requirements for supplement manufacturers.

GMPs are federal quality standards that must be implemented and maintained to ensure proper standards in manufacturing processes, and nutritional supplement products are consistently processed, manufactured, packaged, labeled, and stored in accordance with these standards.

NSF independently certifies nutritional supplement manufacturers as meeting GMP requirements ‒ as listed in Section 8 of NSF/ANSI 173, which is the only American National Standard in the nutritional supplement industry developed in accordance with Title 21, Part 111, of the Code of Federal Regulations (the FDA’s GMPs).

Is Thorne third party certified? 

Yes! Thorne has achieved and maintained NSF certification for its South Carolina manufacturing campus. See Thorne’s “GMP Certified NSF/ANSI 455-2: Dietary Supplements” certificate awarded by NSF on Thorne’s Quality page.

The GMP NSF certificate means that a manufacturing facility, like Thorne’s, has the appropriate facilities, equipment, standard operating procedures, employee training, and quality controls in place to ensure that high-quality nutritional supplements are being manufactured.

This means a consumer can have peace of mind when taking a Thorne supplement, because Thorne’s South Carolina manufacturing facility is certified as meeting the highest quality standards set for nutritional supplement safety and quality.

At Thorne, we believe every nutritional supplement company should retain independent third parties to audit their manufacturing processes and test their products to ensure compliance with the federal GMP regulations.

What is NSF Certified for Sport^®?

Remember that NSF certified mark described above – the one on the back panel of the jar of protein powder? That mark signifies the supplement is NSF Certified for Sport^®.

For a supplement to achieve NSF Certified for Sport® status, it must go through a rigorous three-step review process.

Step 1: GMP Registration – This initial step requires the manufacturing facility to participate in and pass NSF’s GMP certification program. This step is performed annually at the manufacturing facility. After a supplement manufacturing facility is NSF certified, the nutritional supplements made at that facility are eligible for additional certification through the NSF Certified for Sport^® program. This process continues with step 2.

Step 2: Contents Tested and Certified Certification – This second process includes testing each finished product’s contents to verify that it contains no unsafe levels of contaminants and meets the claims and contents shown on the product label. This step is performed annually on each formula. If there are different versions or flavors of a product – for instance, Thorne’s Amino Complex, in both lemon and berry flavors – then each formula variation is tested separately.

Step 3: Certified for Sport Certification – After the first two steps are completed, each lot of finished product is then tested to ensure that lot is free from almost 300 substances that have been banned from athletic competition by major U.S. athletic organizations and anti-doping associations. Each lot tested is listed online at nsfsport.com. For a supplement to bear the Certified for Sport mark on its product label, this final step must be performed on every batch of that product – no matter how many batches of the supplement have been made previously – to ensure that every batch adheres to NSF’s strict quality standards.

The most up-to-date list of Thorne supplements and the lot numbers that are listed with NSF can be accessed here.

If you use a nutritional supplement that bears the NSF Certified for Sport^® mark, then you can be confident that its contents were thoroughly tested by one of the world’s most respected and independent third-party certifiers.

Why is NSF Certified for Sport necessary? 

Professional athletes strive to only use nutritional supplements that are free of banned substances. There is simply too much at stake ‒ reputation and integrity ‒ and too many hours of dedication invested by these elite athletes to risk taking a contaminated nutritional supplement.

Thorne first obtained NSF’s GMP certification in 2015 and then launched its NSF Certified for Sport^® lineup in 2016, just in time for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Since then, Thorne has become the nutritional supplement provider choice for more than 100 professional and U.S. National sports teams.

Don’t take our word for it! According to the official NSF Certified for Sport website: “The Certified for Sport certification is the only independent third-party certification program recognized by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Canadian Football League. NSF Certified for Sport is also recommended by the NFL, NBA, PGA, LPGA, CCES, CPSDA [now APSDA], iNADO, Ironman, NASCAR, Taylor Hooton Foundation, and many other organizations seeking to mitigate the risks of contaminated dietary supplements.”

Over the years, Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport^® product suite has grown to feature products for a range of health needs unique to both the training regimens and the recovery regimens of professional athletes – from NSF certified for Sport® protein powders supplements and pre-workouts to vitamin D capsules and a multi-strain probiotic.

You can learn about Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport program here. For the most up-to-date list of Thorne’s NSF-certified supplements, check out Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport Shop page or explore the NSF Official Listings of Thorne’s products here.

Can anyone take a Thorne NSF-certified supplement?

Yes! Although professional athletes demand safe and healthy supplements for safe and healthy competition, Thorne’s NSF Certified for Sport® supplements are not just for the pros – they are for everyone. We believe the professional athlete, as well as the casual competitor and everyday person, should have access to the best nutritional supplements possible.

When you see that a Thorne supplement has been NSF Certified for Sport^®, it means the supplement has met the most stringent standards when it comes to safety and quality. These Thorne supplements are not just for elite athletes, they are for the athlete in all of us.

So, what is “NSF certified”? 

“NSF certified” definition: independently tested and approved by NSF. It’s quality. It’s safety. It’s independent third-party testing. It’s peace of mind.

At Thorne, we are proud that our manufacturing facility and the selected nutritional supplements we make meet the requirements of the NSF Certified for Sport^® program. Discover for yourself why Thorne is the choice of more than 100 professional sports teams and U.S. National teams and why Thorne is the most trusted name in personalized, scientific sports performance.