Banned Substance Screening

Banned Substance Screening

Banned substance screening answers one question: is anything in this product that shouldn't be there? It's the test most people picture when they think of anti-doping — and it's necessary, but it's only one of two tests required for the PURELITE mark. A product can pass banned substance screening completely and still not match its own label claim. This page covers what banned substance screening checks; see Quality Screening for the other half of the standard.

What it's tested against

Every batch is screened against the current version of the World Anti-Doping Agency's Prohibited List — the standard that defines what's banned in sport, both in and out of competition. It's a mandatory international standard, not a voluntary guideline.

The List runs across nine substance categories: Anabolic agents, Peptide hormones and growth factors, Beta-2 agonists, Hormone and metabolic modulators, Diuretics and masking agents, Stimulants, Narcotics, Cannabinoids, and Glucocorticoids. Some apply at all times, others specifically in-competition.

It isn't a fixed list, and that's deliberate. WADA reviews and republishes it every year. Beyond the named substances, it includes a standing clause covering anything with a similar chemical structure or biological effect to what's listed, plus a separate Monitoring Programme tracking emerging substances not yet on the List at all. The scope is built to keep closing gaps, not to sit still — which means testing against "last year's list" isn't the same as testing against the current one.

How it's run

Every finished product batch is sampled at the point of mixing — not drawn from stock, and not from a single customer order. A batch is defined by the production run itself, so the same standard applies whether it's a brand's first order or its thousandth. Cross-contamination risk is verified directly with suppliers, rather than assumed from the ingredient list alone.

What a result means

Every certificate reports the actual finding for each item tested — not a pass/fail summary. A clean banned substance result confirms nothing prohibited was detected in that specific batch, on that specific date, at PURELITE's stated limits of detection. It does not, on its own, mean a product is certified — banned substance screening and quality screening are both required for the PURELITE mark. See "Why Two Services, Not One" for why.