About LGC Sport specialised analytical services

LGC Sport and Specialised Analytical Services (formerly HFL Sport Science) is a world-renowned sports doping control laboratory, with over 50 years of experience in the field. It was instrumental in the launch of the Informed Sport programme.

A laboratory with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) testing experience, LGC has published over 350 peer-reviewed scientific articles and has over 450 man-years of research into doping control.

With approximately 80 staff working at its state-of-the-art laboratories in the UK and US, LGC tests a wide range of regulatory and commercial samples for substances prohibited in sport.

LGC has supported the sports supplement industry for over 10 years and has tested in excess of 40,000 supplement samples from over 20 different countries in this time.

In 2008, LGC (then HFL Sports Science) launched the Informed Sport certification programme. Established in consultation with manufacturers, sports bodies and sports regulators, the Informed Sport programme is a comprehensive certification programme which allows registered products to carry the Informed Sport logo, a sign that athletes can trust.

Before any product can be accepted onto the Informed Sport programme it must undergo a rigorous registration process, which involves a comprehensive audit of all manufacturing facilities and the testing of multiple production batches for a wide range of prohibited substances.

Once registered, batches of finished product are tested prior to release into the market. As well as testing production batches direct from the manufacturer, a number of 'blind' samples are also independently purchased from retail outlets and tested.

The Informed Sport website provides athletes with a valuable resource, providing information on registered products and also educational information relating to the use of sports supplements.

LGC Sport and Specialised Analytical Services is pleased to be working with Healthspan Elite®, supporting the provision of high quality products which athletes can trust. "It's great that Healthspan Elite® has registered products onto the Informed-Sport programme, this really shows their commitment to producing products which are manufactured to the highest quality standards", said Paul Brown, Laboratory Manager at LGC.