Creatine Monohydrate: what the tub has to tell you
How to read a single-ingredient creatine powder label, and why 300 g is a weight and not a count.
One ingredient, one line
Creatine monohydrate is a single-ingredient powder. On a tub like this one, the ingredients list should read creatine monohydrate and nothing else.
That makes the label unusually easy to audit. If anything else appears, a bulking agent, a flow agent or a sweetener, it is there by choice and the list is where you find out.
Unflavoured means no flavouring in the list
Our Creatine Monohydrate is described as unflavoured, which is a statement about the ingredients list rather than about taste. An unflavoured powder carries no flavouring, no sweetener and no colour.
Compare that with a flavoured creatine drink mix, where creatine is one named ingredient among several. Both are legitimate products, but only one of them is comparable to this tub line for line.
300 g is a weight, not a number of portions
Powders are sold by weight. A 300 g pouch tells you how much powder is inside, and nothing at all about how many portions the finished label will state.
To work out cost per portion you need two figures from the same label: the pack weight and the stated portion size. Without the portion size to hand, the simplest comparison between two creatine tubs is price per 100 g.
Words you will see on creatine packaging
Some terms describe the physical powder rather than its composition. They are worth recognising so you can tell a processing description from an ingredient.
- Monohydrate: the named form of the ingredient, and what belongs in the list
- Micronised: a description of particle size, not an extra ingredient
- Unflavoured: no flavouring declared in the ingredients list
- Pack weight: total powder in the pouch, printed in grams
Compare it against the rest of the shelf
Single-ingredient powders are the simplest things in this category to compare, because there is almost nothing to hide behind. Beta-Alanine, L-Glutamine and Taurine are sold the same way, in a stated weight with one named ingredient.
Sachet products are a different shape of purchase. A box of sachets is sold by count, so it cannot be set against a tub sold by weight without converting one into the other.
What the label tells you
The full ingredients list, the amount per portion, allergens, dietary suitability, directions and storage are printed on the pack.
Read the label before you take any supplement, and check the product page for the format, pack size and price before you buy.
