Healthspan Elite becomes the ‘Official Vitamin and Supplement Supplier to Team Sky’ and the two organisations said they would work together to develop products.
“Since the very beginning [2010] Team Sky has looked to employ ‘best in class’ nutrition practices,” said Team Sky performance nutritionist Dr James Morton in a statement.
“To be able to do this we have to offer our riders the best and safest vitamins and supplements available which is why we have chosen to work with Healthspan Elite. Their quality is unparalleled and we look forward to working closely with them in exploring innovative new products for the riders.”
Healthspan Elite also works with Southampton Football Club, Sport Wales, the English Institute of Sport, the British Sailing Team and Scottish Rugby.
The 18-year-old Guernsey-based firm has its entire range of 16 products registered with quality assurance scheme, LGC-owned Informed-Sport, which independently tests products and formulations to ensure they are free of any contaminants, including performance-enhancing substances elite athletes are banned from taking.
Healthspan Elite's range includes omega-3s, glucosamine and chondroitin, krill, magnesium, zinc and multivitamins.
There has never been a doping issue with a product on the list in about eight years.
Healthspan Elite chief Chris Fisher said: “Team Sky is a stand-out competitor in an intensely demanding and competitive sport. As such, we are proud that our products are the ones Team Sky turns to in order to power their drive for success and to provide them with the assurances that they need.”
Supplements have often been blamed for doping infractions in pro sports and athletics. Just last week, Tom Danielson, a pro cyclist for the US Cannondale-Garmin team, said he would be having all his food supplements tested after he returned an adverse analytic finding for testosterone, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Danielson has been suspended by his team until the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) rules on the finding.