DeliveredDose

Is Thorne whey protein third-party tested?

Our pick: Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (10.18 lb), $1.61 per 25g delivered.
Buy at Optimum Nutrition (direct)why this one

Partly: 1 of the 4 we track, not all of them. NSF lists a specific package against each certificate, and a certificate is what NSF actually stands behind, so a package the listing does not name is treated as unconfirmed rather than certified. Every row below was read against NSF's own listing, and the listing ID is shown.

NSF lists this whey flavor by flavor. The chocolate tub we price is named; the vanilla tub reads as listed at another size; the packets are named by neither listing.

ProductPackageNamed by an NSF listing?Certificate
Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate (30 servings) buy30 servingsYes1513727
Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla (30 servings) buy30 servingsListed at another size1513728
Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate, Travel Packs (14 packets) buy14 unitsListed at another size1513727
Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla, Travel Packs (14 packets) buy14 unitsListed at another size1513728

What the listings say

Thorne holds 2 Certified for Sport listings covering the products in this table (1513727, 1513728). NSF records some brands under more than one spelling, so a search on the brand name alone can miss a listing; ours are found from a full read of the directory, then opened one by one.

What each product page shows

Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate (30 servings) A · Certified
The listing prints Package Size "30.2 g, 906 g", Serving Size "1 scoop (30.2 g)" and Protein 21 g. This tub's front face prints "NET WT. 31.9 OZ (1.99 LB.) 906 G" and its panel prints "Serving Size: One Scoop (30.2 g)", "Servings Per Container: 30" and "Protein 21 g", so the listing names the exact package sold and agrees with the panel line the comparison uses. The listing is flavor-specific (Flavor Chocolate); the vanilla tub has its own row, 1513728.
Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla (30 servings) A? · package unconfirmed
Listed at another size. Listing 1513728 "Thorne® Whey Protein Isolate Vanilla Flavored" prints Package Size "29.7 g, 906 g" with Serving Size "1 scoop (27.9 g)" and Protein 21 g. The serving and the protein figure are this tub's, and the label image the listing publishes is this tub's panel, but the package weight is not: this tub's front face prints "NET WT. 29.5 OZ (1.84 LB.) 837 G". 906 g is the weight the chocolate tub prints. The listing's "29.7 g" also contradicts its own serving line of 27.9 g. Under the package rule a listing that does not print the weight on the label is another size, so this is recorded as listed at another size, and the mismatch is recorded.
Whey Protein Isolate, Chocolate, Travel Packs (14 packets) A? · package unconfirmed
Listed at another size. Listing 1513727 "Thorne® Whey Protein Isolate Chocolate Flavored" prints Package Size "30.2 g, 906 g" with Serving Size "1 scoop (30.2 g)", and its Protein 21 g, Carbohydrate 4 g, Sugar 2 g, Fat 1 g and Calories 100 Cal are this formula's figures. The package priced here is the 14-packet carton, whose front prints "14 PACKETS / 14 - 1.06 OZ (30.2 G) / TOTAL NET WT 14.91 OZ (422.8 G)" and whose panel prints "Serving Size: One Packet (30.2 g)" and "Servings Per Container: 14". Neither 422.8 g nor a packet count appears on the listing: its 906 g is the tub's net weight, its 30.2 g is the weight its own Serving Size line gives, and the label image the listing publishes prints "Serving Size: One Scoop (30.2 g)" and "Servings Per Container: 30", which is the tub's panel. Under the package rule a listing that does not name the package sold is another size, so this carton is recorded as listed at another size. The carton's own back face prints the NSF Certified for Sport mark, which is recorded as the maker's claim on the product.
Whey Protein Isolate, Vanilla, Travel Packs (14 packets) A? · package unconfirmed
Listed at another size. Listing 1513728 "Thorne® Whey Protein Isolate Vanilla Flavored" prints Package Size "29.7 g, 906 g" with Serving Size "1 scoop (27.9 g)", and its Protein 21 g, Carbohydrate 3 g, Sugar 3 g, Fat 0.5 g and Calories 100 Cal are this formula's figures. The package priced here is the 14-packet carton, whose front prints "14 PACKETS / 14 - 0.98 OZ (27.9 G) / TOTAL NET WT 13.78 OZ (390.6 G)" and whose panel prints "Serving Size: One Packet (27.9 g)" and "Servings Per Container: 14". Neither 390.6 g nor a packet count appears on the listing: 906 g is the chocolate tub's net weight, and the label image the listing publishes prints "Serving Size: One Scoop (27.9 g)" and "Servings Per Container: 30", which is the vanilla tub's panel. The listing's "29.7 g" appears nowhere on this label and its own Serving Size line gives 27.9 g, the same mismatch noted for the vanilla tub. Under the package rule this carton is recorded as listed at another size. The carton's own back face prints the NSF Certified for Sport mark, which is recorded as the maker's claim on the product.

Every Thorne product we track, across all categories: Is Thorne third party tested?

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.

Our pick, delivery included · Cheapest independently tested, delivery known
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (10.18 lb)
$1.61per 25g, delivered$48.24 a month
B · TestedB · Informed ChoiceBuy at Optimum Nutrition (direct) · $229.99
Cheapest per 25g, delivery known
MuscleTech Nitro Tech 100% Whey Gold, Double Rich Chocolate (5 lb)
$1.33per 25g, delivered$39.85 a month
Not our pick: no independent verification we could locate.
D · None locatedD · None locatedBuy at MuscleTech (direct) · $87.99
Least to spend today
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey, Double Rich Chocolate (0.68 lb)
$3.38per 25g, delivered$101.50 a month
More per 25g, but $197.51 less to spend today, delivered.
B · TestedB · Informed ChoiceBuy at Optimum Nutrition (direct) · $26.49
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.

More questions like this

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.