How we score protein powders
Every product review carries a score out of 100. It is the sum of four categories, each worth 25. Every category comes from something checkable: a figure on the manufacturer label, a live price from a retail partner, or a certification we located in the certifier’s own database.
Thresholds are fixed and published below rather than calculated from a moving average of our own catalogue, so the same product scores the same today and next month unless its label or its price changes.
Protein density
From: Protein per 100g on the manufacturer label
| Measured | Points |
|---|---|
| 88g and above | 25/25 |
| 82 to 87g | 22/25 |
| 75 to 81g | 18/25 |
| 70 to 74g | 15/25 |
| 65 to 69g | 11/25 |
| 55 to 64g | 7/25 |
| Below 55g | 4/25 |
A whey concentrate typically lands around 70 to 75g. A good isolate reaches 85 to 90g. The practical ceiling on a flavoured powder is the low 90s, because flavouring and sweetener take up space.
Value for money
From: Cost per 25g of protein at the cheapest partner listing
| Measured | Points |
|---|---|
| Under 55p | 25/25 |
| 55p to 69p | 22/25 |
| 70p to 84p | 18/25 |
| 85p to 99p | 14/25 |
| £1.00 to £1.19 | 10/25 |
| £1.20 and above | 6/25 |
Per 25g of protein rather than per tub, because pack sizes and protein densities differ enough to reverse which product is actually cheaper. If no partner stocks the product, this category is skipped and the total is scaled over the remaining three.
Macro cleanliness
From: Sugar plus fat per 100g on the label
| Measured | Points |
|---|---|
| 2g or less combined | 25/25 |
| 2 to 5g | 22/25 |
| 5 to 9g | 18/25 |
| 9 to 14g | 14/25 |
| 14 to 20g | 10/25 |
| Above 20g | 6/25 |
The one category where lower is unambiguously better and the label always states it, so it needs no interpretation. A pure isolate sits near zero. A concentrate blend with skim milk powder can pass 15g.
Third-party testing
From: Certification status, checked in the certifier’s own public database
| Measured | Points |
|---|---|
| Informed Sport, Informed Choice or a published lab assay we located | 25/25 |
| Certification claimed but not findable in the public database | 14/25 |
| Site certifications only, such as ISO 22000, BRC or GMP | 10/25 |
| Nothing found | 5/25 |
A claim we could not confirm scores below a confirmed one but above nothing, because it may well be true. We are recording that we could not verify it, not that it is false.
What we do not score
Taste and mixability. These are not in the score at any weight. They appear on each review as quotes from named forums and communities, linked so you can read the original, because that is evidence rather than a number we invented.
There is no star rating. A star rating is a verdict on how a product performs in use. The number here is a verdict on its label and its price, which is a different claim, so it is presented as a spec score and nothing more.