DeliveredDose

Which casein protein brands are third-party tested?

Latest price check:

4 of the 8 casein protein products we track are named at the exact package by a certifier. 2 more are listed by a program that names no package (Informed Choice). The remaining 2 appear in no database we searched.

NSF names packages by size and count against each certificate. A brand can sell the same formula in several sizes, or several flavors, and have one of them named, so a brand can hold an NSF listing while the tub in your hand is not one it names.

The type column names the flavor priced. Where a brand sells an unflavored casein we price that one. Each line here is priced in one flavor. Whey protein, casein protein and plant protein are set out together on Which protein powders are third-party tested?

Certifier names this exact package, 4

The strongest evidence available here. For NSF, the listing names the package size sold; it was opened, its package text recorded, and its ID is on the product page. For USP, which names products rather than packages, the product is in USP's directory and the USP Verified Mark is on this package's own label, and both are on the product page.

ProductTypePer 25 g protein, before deliveryCertificate
BulkSupplements.com Casein Protein Powder (1 kg)Unflavored$1.271815488
BulkSupplements.com Casein Protein Powder (500 g)Unflavored$1.941815488
BulkSupplements.com Casein Protein Powder (250 g)Unflavored$3.121815488
BulkSupplements.com Casein Protein Powder (100 g)Unflavored$7.321815488

Certified, no package named, 2

Certified by a program that lists a product rather than a package: Informed Sport, Informed Choice and IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards) name no tub, bottle or count, so a listing covers the product, not a package size. The lot printed on a package can be checked against the lots the certifier lists. USP names no package either; a USP package counts as confirmed only when USP's directory lists the product and the package's own label carries the USP mark, which USP says is how a buyer can tell a product is verified. Informed Sport and IFOS test every batch; Informed Choice tests periodically, by each program's own description. That is real independent testing of the product; it is not a statement that the package in your hand was the one tested.

ProductTypePer 25 g protein, before deliveryCertificate
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein, Chocolate Supreme (3.97 lb)
Also contains, not counted in the price per dose: magnesium 85 mg and zinc 11 mg
Chocolate Supreme$1.92Informed Choice
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein, Chocolate Supreme (1.87 lb)
Also contains, not counted in the price per dose: magnesium 85 mg and zinc 11 mg
Chocolate Supreme$2.40Informed Choice

Searched, and not found, 2

Not listed by NSF Certified for Sport, Informed Sport, Informed Choice or USP Verified when we read each one's list. These programs certify what a company submits to them, so a product can be absent from a list simply because it was never entered, which is not a finding against it.

ProductTypePer 25 g protein, before deliveryCertificate
Nutricost Casein Protein, Unflavored (5 lb)Unflavored$1.09None found
Nutricost Casein Protein, Unflavored (2 lb)Unflavored$1.43None found

NSF Certified for Sport, the Informed programs' published product lists and USP's directory are each read in full, and each product page names the day. A product missing from this page has not failed a check. It has not had one.

Where to buy: the casein protein shortlist

The pick is the cheapest product that clears four bars:

  • certified, and named at the exact package where the certifier names packages
  • no adverse finding on record
  • a price its retailer let us read recently
  • no more than a year’s supply at the label’s serving

It is ranked 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 other answer beside it is the cheapest under a different rule, and its own line names that rule. Answers that cost more than the pick are folded into one line until you open it.

Our pick, delivery included · Cheapest independently tested, delivery known
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein, Chocolate Supreme (3.97 lb)
Also contains, not counted in the price per dose: magnesium 85 mg and zinc 11 mg.
$1.92per 25g, delivered$57.48 a month
B · TestedB · Informed ChoiceBuy at Optimum Nutrition (direct) · $97.49
Cheapest per 25g, delivery known
Nutricost Casein Protein, Unflavored (5 lb)
$1.09per 25g, delivered$32.75 a month
Not our pick: no independent verification we could locate.
D · None locatedD · None locatedBuy at Nutricost (direct) · $82.97
Cheapest independently tested, delivery not published
BulkSupplements.com Casein Protein Powder (1 kg)
$1.27per 25g, before delivery$38.15 a month
Not our pick: delivery cost is not published.
Delivery is extra and not published; free from $59.01.
A · CertifiedA · NSF Certified for SportBuy at BulkSupplements.com · $41.97
Least to spend today
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Casein, Chocolate Supreme (1.87 lb)
Also contains, not counted in the price per dose: magnesium 85 mg and zinc 11 mg.
$2.65per 25g, delivered$79.35 a month
More per 25g, but $34.01 less to spend today, delivered.
B · TestedB · Informed ChoiceBuy at Optimum Nutrition (direct) · $57.49
How these lines are chosen

Among 8 products and 8 retailer listings we track; Amazon and Walmart are not included. A month is thirty doses of 25g, priced the same way as the figure beside it. It is worked out before that figure is rounded, so it can differ from thirty times it by a few cents. It is not thirty servings where a serving holds more or less than 25g. “Delivery known” ranks only products whose retailer publishes a delivery rate. A cheaper tested product whose rate is not published gets a line of its own. Every package we price, with its delivery terms, is on the Casein Protein page.

More questions like this

Full comparison of every product in this category: Casein Protein. Every question we answer: the question index.

What this rests on: Prices are the last ones we recorded at the retailer named on each product page. Prices go stale, so each page says when it was checked. We track some products, not every one sold, and Amazon and Walmart are not among our stores. Listings and labels are read at the source, and each page links to them. Found an error? Tell us. The full method: How we compare.