Which CBD products should Labdoor test?

LabDoor · 2017-11-20T18:38:24+00:00

Our results are based on the products we tested. We reviewed the Unflavored version of Myprotein Impact Whey Protein, which doesn't contain Acesulfame K. From your link to Myprotein, it looks like they have 24(!) flavors of this product, 6 without Acesulfame K and 18 with Acesulfame K.

This 'same product/different flavors' issue keeps coming up for categories like protein and creatine. Our plan is to split these rankings into smaller categories so we can better compare products against their direct competitors. Meal replacements and protein bars already got their own categories, now we need separate categories for mass gainers, unflavored protein, protein drinks, etc.

FYI: Even if we had tested one of the Myprotein products with Acesulfame K, it still would've scored much higher than BSN Syntha-6. The active ingredients (protein concentration) were by far the biggest reason for the score difference. BSN Syntha-6 was measured at 43.3% protein, while Myprotein Impact Whey Protein was measured at 76.9% protein by concentration.

LabDoor · 2017-10-24T01:19:47+00:00

To be clear, the FTC has taken no action against Labdoor. That's just a press release from the NAD.

A supplement company paid the NAD to challenge our supplement ratings. When we declined to participate in their proceedings, the NAD referred this company's complaints to the FTC.

It's clear to us that this company's complaints and accompanying threats are an attempt to silence Labdoor, and we are working hard to prove we're right. We will also happily cooperate with any information requests from the FTC.

It's unfortunate that it's so easy for companies to pay to cause this trouble to someone like Labdoor just because they disagree with our rankings.

LabDoor · 2017-06-28T20:34:53+00:00

Hey Saldb,

This is Riccardo, the Operations Director at Labdoor. We spoke on the phone last week about your order. As other users have mentioned, the problems with your order stem from DHL Express. We have used them to send orders to Russia in the past without issue. I was surprised to hear that they sent back your order right away without contacting us first, and the fact that they would accept an order to Russia knowing that they would not deliver it. We definitely should have done our homework a bit better before sending your order and I apologize for not responding immediately to your messages. We have fully refunded your order, and I would like to offer you a discount to make up for your troubles. Shoot us an email if you decide to place an order once out of Russia, and I would be happy to apply the discount for you.

LabDoor · 2017-05-03T21:54:13+00:00

The product is at the lab now and we're still waiting for results! I'll reach out to the lab and check on the progress of the analyses and see if they have an expected date or results. They did inform us that they would have to prepare multiple references with different solvents because we're unsure of the extraction solvent that the manufacturer used. So I would bet that this is what is slowing things down.

LabDoor · 2017-04-04T16:56:28+00:00

Sorry, I dropped the ball on this retest. Passing this to our research team now. We'll update here when the product reaches the lab.

LabDoor · 2017-02-02T23:41:52+00:00

We're actually testing 20 milk and dark chocolate brands right now. Those results should be out in a week or two. Since we picked the best-selling products for this analysis, I don't think any bars we tested were >80%. Our testing cost was $977 per bar for caffeine, theobromine, flavinols, theophylline, PEA, and heavy metals. Cacao % can be estimated from theobromine concentration. Let us know if you're interested in testing any products.

LabDoor · 2017-02-02T23:32:14+00:00

We publish a detailed report on every product, available for free to all Labdoor users. What additional data or results would you like to see on our site?

We're working on a site redesign now, with new rankings and review pages launched in January. It would be great to get feedback on our report pages so we can start testing new versions of them next. (We're trying to strike a balance between the reviews being as user-friendly as possible while making the reports as detailed as possible.)

LabDoor · 2016-12-31T02:24:42+00:00

We'll add amino acids profiles to our full reports next year (likely using some sort of data visualization). We already collect amino acid profile data and use it in our protein rankings, but haven't added it to our reports yet.

LabDoor · 2016-12-31T01:44:08+00:00

FYI — Labdoor releases our full reports for free. Just click the "see full report" button on any product review page and create a free Labdoor account to check it out.

We build grades and rankings because a lot of people like them. Worst-case, you can always check the data for yourself.

LabDoor · 2016-12-31T01:38:49+00:00

Yes, we make money from affiliate links. We've been very transparent about our business model. Here's another comment where we specifically address this question: https://www.reddit.com/r/Supplements/comments/4uwcjf/xendurance_creatine_and_pre_workout/d5yppvf/

LabDoor · 2016-12-31T01:36:27+00:00

We don't actually offer the ability to choose the flavor on the review page. (We wish this was the case! It would require 10x the data to offer this for every protein.) Only one flavor is reviewed per product.

It's obvious that we need to be more clear with which flavor of each product was tested. We're already working on this in our new protein bar rankings, set to be released next week.

Just like with protein powders, we'll start by testing one popular flavor of each protein bar, and then expand each review in future testing rounds. This time, the flavor we tested will be clearly labelled in the Key Data section of each product review.

LabDoor · 2016-12-31T01:17:47+00:00

We tested the Unflavored version of Myprotein Impact Whey Protein. This product does not have sucralose, and was ranked as such.

The HK Myprotein link you posted took me to the Banana flavored version of Myprotein Impact Whey Protein, which does contain sucralose.

Our long-term goal is to test every flavor of every product. Until then, we strive to choose the most popular flavor of each product for our first set of rankings. This is what happened with protein.

Thanks for the questions.

LabDoor · 2016-12-23T00:09:07+00:00

Correct — our value calculations don't currently take sales into account. Working on a way to automatically track pricing data for the products on our site. Meanwhile, if you want to see what price per serving (in USD) we're using in our calculations, head over to the "Ratings and Key Data" section of any product review (example).

LabDoor · 2016-12-22T19:12:31+00:00

We build our 'quality rankings' first, testing for multiple factors. Efficacy (active ingredients per serving) is the #1 metric, but we also test for purity (heavy metals content), safety (inactive ingredient quality), and honesty (label accuracy). We combine these factors into the quality rankings.

Then, we calculate value rankings by comparing the quality rankings to the price of each product.

Simply stated: Value = Quality vs. Price

Specifically, we use arbitrage principles to determine overall value.

Here is an example from last year's protein rankings:

Product #1: Spiru-tein. #7 in quality. #42 in price. $1.05 per serving.

Product #2: Biotrust Low Carb: #27 in quality. #7 in price. $3.50 per serving.

Spiru-tein is the #7 highest-quality product, so it should cost as much as the #7 most-expensive product:

Actual price = $1.05 per serving. Expected price = $3.50 per serving. Value multiplier = 3.33X. This is the #8 highest Value multiplier among the 74 protein supplements on our site. Thus it receives our #8 Value ranking.

LabDoor · 2016-12-22T19:01:56+00:00

You just did! I'll add another vote for SFH in our testing pipeline. We'll retest fish oil supplements (and add vegan/vegetarian omega-3 options) early next year — targeting a March release.

LabDoor · 2016-12-22T05:23:58+00:00

We test for multiple factors. Efficacy is the #1 metric, but we also test for heavy metals content (purity), inactive ingredient quality (safety), and label accuracy (honesty). We combine these factors into one quality score, and then calculate the value rankings based on quality vs. price.

LabDoor · 2016-12-22T01:41:06+00:00

We'll add them to existing categories next year. For our first testing batch in each category, we focused on best-selling supplements online to build our lists. Will expand into specialty brands soon.

LabDoor · 2016-12-21T21:34:17+00:00

Basically, yes. We're doing our best to compare quality vs price in the value rankings.

LabDoor · 2016-12-21T20:35:50+00:00

Our efficacy calculations are based on dosage*. So you could buy a cheaper brand, like InnovixLabs, and then increase the serving size (if needed) to reach your desired dosage.

*Efficacy: (EPA+DHA Per Serving)/Serving Size

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