Clean, Defined | How Transparent Labs Sets the Standard

The Rise of “Clean”

Given the frequency with which the word “clean” is used to advertise and promote nutritional supplements, you would probably assume there is some objective standard that governs its use—or at least a shared understanding of what it means.

Ironically, the opposite is true: the word “clean” has been stretched and repurposed so often that it risks losing its meaning altogether.

The concept of “clean” first gained traction in the food industry, where it was used to describe whole, minimally processed foods free from artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. Over time, the “clean eating” movement took hold, shaping how consumers thought about wellness and purity.

From there, the term migrated into adjacent industries—personal care, household products, even cosmetics—each borrowing the word but applying it without consistent standards. 

By the time “clean” entered the supplement space, it had already been diluted, with different brands bending it to suit their narratives.

In today’s supplement marketplace, buzzwords like “non-toxic” and “chemical-free” are everywhere. These phrases imply purity or added benefit, but without agreed-upon definitions or third-party verification, they often end up saying very little. Consumers are left to make sense of these claims on their own—and may invest in products that don’t deliver the value they expect, or that don’t fully align with their health goals.

The term “clean” illustrates the challenge perfectly. Unlike regulated designations such as “organic,” it carries no official definition. Sometimes it’s applied to source ingredients—like soy, peas, eggs, or low-fat dairy—that are considered “clean” in whole-food form. But once translated into protein powders or finished products, the word becomes fuzzier, and harder to pin down.

The result is a marketplace where many supplements are “cleanwashed,” whether intentionally or not. And while motivations may differ, the lack of standardization makes it harder for consumers to make confident, informed choices about what truly supports their health.

The TL Clean Checklist 

To help you make informed decisions, and to assist you in your efforts to spot dishonest cleanwashing practices, please utilize this helpful checklist:

The Transparent Labs Clean Standard

While no central authority defines or enforces what “clean” means in supplements, Transparent Labs has embraced the responsibility of setting its own strict standard—and sharing it transparently—to encourage higher expectations across the industry.

By adopting our three-pillar approach to clean supplements, we hope to engender trust in our customers and establish the guidelines for accountability that all supplement companies should adhere to when making claims about their products being “clean.”

Pillar 1: Ingredient Quality & Sourcing 

One of the things that many supplement companies get correct — at least in theory — is that the path to authentic cleanliness begins with a high-quality, recognizable food source. That’s why the best supplements come from food sources that are already recognized as nutritionally strong in their natural forms. 

Take protein, for example. Grass-fed whey protein, sourced from the milk of pasture-raised cows, has been shown to provide higher nutrient quality (like fatty acids) compared to whey from conventionally grain-fed cattle.(1) Similarly, the organically sourced peas used in Transparent Labs’ 100% Pea Protein deliver robust protein content, high essential amino acid levels, and strong digestibility—making them high-quality raw material.(2) In short, a truly clean supplement starts with premium ingredients at its foundation.

Of course, ingredients rarely reach consumers in their raw state. Most supplements require processing, flavoring, or preservation to make them enjoyable and shelf-stable. Here, too, not all additives are created equal. 

The FDA defines “natural flavors” narrowly: they don’t always come directly from the recognizable whole foods consumers might expect. Still, they are approved as safe for use in dietary supplements.

At Transparent Labs, we go further. Wherever possible, we prioritize flavoring and coloring from whole-food sources—cocoa powder, natural peanut flour, or organic makara cinnamon. Instead of relying on synthetic dyes, we choose food-based coloring alternatives like blue spirulina or beta carotene. And when preservatives are necessary, we keep them to a minimum and select clean-label options like himalayan sea salt, which preserves sufficiently while remaining minimally processed.

Equally important is our approach to sweeteners. Across our entire product portfolio, we avoid artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), which have been associated with alterations in glucose metabolism, and gut microbiota changes. (3) (4) Instead, we rely on natural, minimally processed alternatives—like stevia leaf extract and Rebaudioside M (Reb M)—that deliver a clean, palatable sweetness without compromising our standards. 

This approach sets a higher bar. By emphasizing whole-food–derived ingredients, setting stringent label standards, and limiting artificial inputs, we give supplement users confidence that what they’re putting into their bodies aligns with both clean label expectations and real health goals.

Pillar 2: 100% Label Transparency

The labels of your nutrition supplements are supposed to reveal everything a consumer needs to know about a product in order to make informed purchasing decisions. Even if the front of the label contains flowery promotional prose, the ingredient list should clearly list every relevant ingredient without any omissions, or language that is either evasive or intentionally misleading.

To put it another way, the label itself should be clean. Sadly, many supplement-makers hide undesirable ingredients behind proprietary loopholes that don’t serve the interests of customers. In theory, this practice is intended to protect manufacturers by enabling them to conceal their precise formulas from competitors, while disclosing only the total volume of the entire ingredient mixture. 

In practice, proprietary blends allow supplement companies to dazzle consumers with long lists of promising ingredients—while hiding the fact that none may be included at a clinically effective dose. By obscuring the true amounts, these blends blur the line between marketing and science, creating more confusion than clarity. Far from representing “clean,” this practice runs directly counter to the transparency and trust that consumers deserve.

Closely tied to the issue of proprietary blends is the practice known as “fairy dusting.” This term refers to the tactic of adding trace amounts of popular, in-demand ingredients to a formula—just enough to list them on the label, but far too little to deliver meaningful benefits.

The result is misleading: consumers see familiar, science-backed ingredients and assume the product will support their goals, when in reality the doses are ineffective. For individuals relying on these supplements to support training, performance, or recovery, that gap between expectation and reality means their needs remain unmet.

Responsible labeling demands more. Companies should be transparent about the exact serving sizes of every ingredient, and especially for those “hero” ingredients that motivate a purchase. Just as important, those ingredients should only appear in formulas at clinically relevant levels—doses that are capable of producing the outcomes consumers are led to expect.

Pillar 3: Independent Certification & Monitoring 

Clean label isn’t just about avoiding artificial ingredients—it’s also about ensuring supplements are free from hidden contaminants. Independent organizations like the Clean Label Project (CLP) have drawn attention to this issue by testing popular products and uncovering concerning levels of heavy metals and other unwanted substances in some protein powders. These findings highlight a critical gap: consumers can’t always rely on product labels alone to know what’s truly inside.

Specifically, the CLP revealed that a shocking number of the most popular protein supplements on the market contained unacceptable quantities of lead, and other pernicious metals and toxic chemicals. 

That’s why independent certification and ongoing third-party monitoring matter. Voluntary testing for contaminants such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury not only safeguards consumers but also reinforces transparency. Publishing these results makes it possible for athletes and health-minded individuals to make informed choices with confidence—whether they’re selecting a protein, evaluating a blend, or seeking assurance through independent verification.

Ultimately, a product cannot be considered genuinely “clean” unless it proves both what it contains—and what it doesn’t. Independent testing and disclosure set the standard for trust.

Informed Choice

Informed Choice is one of the most widely recognized certification marks in sports nutrition. Unlike many clean-label initiatives that focus primarily on ingredient sourcing, Informed Choice was born out of the world of anti-doping and elite athletics. Its roots are in the laboratories that worked directly with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to detect banned substances in athletes—an origin that gives the program a unique credibility.

That background shaped Informed Choice’s mission: to identify and eliminate the hidden risks in supplements that could compromise athlete safety, performance, or reputation. What started as a focus on detecting stimulants or performance enhancers that had no place in clean sport has grown into a global quality assurance program that now safeguards all consumers.

The certification unfolds across four structured steps:

1. Manufacturing and Labeling Audit: A detailed review of production processes, quality systems, supplier vetting, traceability, and recall protocols 

2. Pre‑Certification Testing: Testing of three separate batches for contaminants or banned substances in accredited labs. 

3. Award & Listing: Once compliant, products earn the Informed Choice logo and are listed on the program’s site with associated batch details

4. Ongoing Blind Testing: Continued consumer-safe assurance through regular blind sampling of products purchased from retail outlets

This combination of manufacturing oversight, raw material verification, and continuous blind testing makes Informed Choice one of the most robust safeguards in the supplement industry. It’s not just a one-time badge; it’s a system of ongoing monitoring that ensures every certified product maintains the same standard of trust.

At Transparent Labs, every one of our products undergoes Informed Choice testing. This means our customers can have complete confidence that the supplements they choose are not only free from banned substances, but also manufactured under strict quality systems that support purity, safety, and transparency.

Informed Protein

Informed Protein is a certification program developed to address a very specific issue in the supplement industry: misleading protein claims. It was created in response to practices like “amino spiking” and “nitrogen spiking," where brands inflated protein content on labels by adding cheap amino acids or nitrogen sources that do not contribute to muscle repair, recovery, or overall nutritional value.

The mission of Informed Protein is straightforward: to ensure that the amount and type of protein declared on a label accurately reflects what’s in the product, and that the protein comes from safe, high-quality sources.

The certification unfolds across three key steps:

1. Protein Verification: Testing confirms that the labeled protein content matches the true, usable protein in the product, with no misleading fillers or spiking.

2. Quality Assessment: Products are screened for adulterants and excess free amino acids, while audits ensure that proteins are sourced, processed, and labeled with integrity.

3. Ongoing Blind Testing: Like Informed Choice, Informed Protein requires continued spot checks to confirm consistency across production runs.

By holding products accountable for both quantity and quality, Informed Protein provides consumers with assurance that their supplement investment supports real performance and recovery.

At Transparent Labs, all of our protein products undergo Informed Protein testing. This commitment ensures that when customers choose Transparent Labs Protein, like our Grass-Fed Whey Protein Isolate or our Organic Vegan Protein they know they’re getting the precise amount of high-quality protein promised on the label—nothing less.

Third-Party Testing & Quality Controls

At Transparent Labs, we take it one step further. Beyond industry certifications like Informed Choice and Informed Protein, we conduct routine third-party testing on every one of our products. These tests are carried out at ISO-accredited laboratories to verify both purity and potency. 

As stated by the USDA, accreditation by the International Organization for Standardization means that a lab’s ability “to detect pathogens, chemical residues and other contaminants that pose risks to consumers” has been verified by the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

What does that mean in practice? It means our products are tested not just for their nutrient profile, but also for potential contaminants that have no place in clean nutrition—everything from heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury, to microbial contaminants like E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus. Testing also confirms things like protein content, carbohydrate and fat levels, and calorie counts, ensuring that what appears on the label precisely reflects what’s in each serving.

Importantly, this is not a one-time exercise. We test on consistent intervals across production runs to guarantee ongoing compliance and consumer safety. Independent verification helps catch issues that can arise in raw materials or manufacturing, reinforcing our clean label commitment from batch to batch.

And because transparency only matters if it’s visible, every Certificate of Analysis (CoA) we receive from our testing partners is posted on the Transparent Labs website in its original form—with the testing lab’s logo, the reviewing scientist’s name, dates of completion, and the lab director’s signature clearly displayed. The most recent CoA is listed on each product description page and a full repository of third party tests is available on our testing page. 

This level of third-party verification and public disclosure is far from standard in the dietary supplement industry. While many brands may perform some in-house testing, few commit to routine, independent ISO-accredited testing across every product—and even fewer share the data openly with their customers.

This level of transparency sets us apart: nothing is hidden behind proprietary blends, marketing claims, or vague assurances. Instead, we provide customers with verifiable data, empowering them to make informed choices with complete confidence in the safety, quality, and integrity of every product we make.

Sources:

1. Alothman M, Hogan SA, Hennessy D, Dillon P, Kilcawley KN, O'Donovan M, Tobin J, Fenelon MA, O'Callaghan TF. The "Grass-Fed" Milk Story: Understanding the Impact of Pasture Feeding on the Composition and Quality of Bovine Milk. Foods. 2019 Aug 17;8(8):350. doi: 10.3390/foods8080350. PMID: 31426489; PMCID: PMC6723057.

2. Thavarajah D, Lawrence T, Boatwright L, Windsor N, Johnson N, Kay J, Shipe E, Kumar S, Thavarajah P. Organic dry pea (Pisum sativum L.): A sustainable alternative pulse-based protein for human health. PLoS One. 2023 Apr 12;18(4):e0284380. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284380. PMID: 37043476; PMCID: PMC10096185.

3. Bridge-Comer PE, Vickers MH, Morton-Jones J, Spada A, Rong J, Reynolds CM. Impact of Maternal Intake of Artificial Sweetener, Acesulfame-K, on Metabolic and Reproductive Health Outcomes in Male and Female Mouse Offspring. Front Nutr. 2021 Dec 6;8:745203. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.745203. PMID: 34938757; PMCID: PMC8687087.

4. Bian X, Chi L, Gao B, Tu P, Ru H, Lu K. The artificial sweetener acesulfame potassium affects the gut microbiome and body weight gain in CD-1 mice. PLoS One. 2017 Jun 8;12(6):e0178426. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178426. PMID: 28594855; PMCID: PMC5464538.