CREATREN creatine monohydrate + taurine, 90 capsules

Last reviewed: 16 October 2026 · sources and prices checked by Free Muscle.

Label facts

Creatine monohydrate in the UK: buying, legal status and what to check

Creatine is legal to buy and sell in the UK. Creatine monohydrate is regulated as a food supplement, not a medicine, and it is not a controlled substance. Great Britain and the EU authorise a health claim for creatine only for foods that provide a daily intake of 3 g of creatine. CREATREN's label gives 2,000 mg of creatine and taurine together per 3-capsule serving, so we make no health claim for it. Taurine, the second ingredient, is a permitted food ingredient with no authorised health claim.

UK labelling law already requires the responsible business's name and address, an ingredients list, the amount of each active substance per recommended daily portion, a batch mark, a best before date and standard warnings. It does not require an independent assay of each batch, so that is the check worth asking any seller for: a certificate carrying the batch number on your pot.

CREATREN is sold by Free Muscle, the trading name of FreeMuscle, a business registered in Andorra with UK operations and dispatch in Scunthorpe, to adults aged 18 or over. Every batch is assayed by Janoshik Analytical, and the certificate for your batch is emailed on request. UK delivery is free, tracked and plain-packaged; orders before 2pm Monday to Friday are dispatched the same working day, EU delivery usually takes 3 to 7 working days after dispatch, and unopened items can be returned within 30 days (see shipping and guarantee).

Capsules compared with powder, micronised and other creatine forms

Micronised creatine is creatine monohydrate milled to a finer particle size so it disperses more easily in liquid; the molecule and its creatine content by weight are unchanged. Monohydrate is 87.9 per cent creatine by mass, the highest of any form except anhydrous creatine, and it dissolves at only about 14 g per litre of water at 20 °C. Antonio and colleagues (2021) note that solubility has no influence on uptake into tissue.

Capsules hold the same powder in a gelatin or cellulose shell, which changes convenience and cost per gram rather than chemistry; gram quantities usually take several capsules. Liquids are different: creatine is not stable in solution, where it slowly converts to creatinine, and the same review reports that attempts to make stable creatine drinks have failed. That is why creatine is sold mainly as powder or capsules. CREATREN is the capsule format: 90 capsules, with a labelled serving of 3 capsules.

Hydrochloride, ethyl ester, buffered and nitrate forms are often marketed as better absorbed. Antonio and colleagues found no peer-reviewed study in which equal amounts raised muscle creatine more than monohydrate, and Kreider and colleagues (2022) concluded that monohydrate remains the only source of creatine with substantial evidence behind it.

Creatine compared with taurine, the second ingredient

The two share a capsule, not a chemistry or a legal standing.

Creatine monohydrate has been studied in controlled trials since the early 1990s; no taurine claim has passed the assessment needed for authorisation. Our article on creatine and taurine sets out what is and is not supported. Our other food supplement, the stimulant-free pre-workout NitraGlyc (pre-workout collection), contains Nitrosigine and glycerol, and neither carries an authorised claim.

Reading the certificate of analysis for CREATREN

Match the product name and batch number on the Janoshik certificate to your pot and note the test date. Then read the results.

• Identity: confirms the laboratory found creatine and taurine by the method named. It shows what is in the capsules, not how much.
• Content: the measured amount, per gram or as a percentage. Check whether it is expressed as creatine or as monohydrate: pure monohydrate reads about 87.9 per cent when reported as creatine, which is not a shortfall. For a two-ingredient blend, compare the result with the label's per-serving amounts, not with 100 per cent.
• Related substances: Antonio and colleagues report creatine from some synthesis routes containing up to 5.4 per cent dicyandiamide, 0.09 per cent dihydrotriazine and 1.3 per cent creatinine. If a certificate lists no impurity results, they were not measured, which is not the same as absent. Ask us what your batch certificate covers.

A PDF without a batch number is not a batch certificate. See how we test and how to read a certificate of analysis.

Creatine, sport and testing

Neither creatine nor taurine is on the WADA Prohibited List, so neither is prohibited in or out of competition. The anti-doping risk with any supplement is contamination. Geyer and colleagues (2004) analysed 634 non-hormonal supplements bought in 13 countries and found undeclared anabolic androgenic steroids in 94 (14.8 per cent), including 18.8 per cent of products bought in the UK; a total intake of more than 1 microgram of nandrolone prohormones produced positive tests for norandrosterone for several hours. The samples date from 2000 and 2001, but the World Anti-Doping Code still holds athletes responsible for anything in their sample. A Janoshik certificate confirms identity and content; it is not an anti-doping screen, so athletes should check what their governing body requires.

Creatine also affects laboratory blood and urine tests. It can raise creatinine, a routine laboratory marker, and Antonio and colleagues caution that such results need careful interpretation in people taking creatine or eating a lot of meat.

Storage, stability and shelf life

Dry creatine monohydrate is very stable. Antonio and colleagues report no sign of breakdown to creatinine over years, even at elevated storage temperatures, and Uzzan and colleagues (2009) confirmed that crystalline creatine stays stable unless it reaches deliquescence, absorbing enough moisture to dissolve. In their glycerol and buffer solutions, creatine degraded to creatinine, which has no biological activity, and did so faster as temperature (tested at 4, 23 and 35 °C) and water activity rose.

• Keep the lid closed and the pot cool, dry and out of direct sunlight, not in a steamy kitchen, bathroom or hot car.
• Close the lid straight after taking out the capsules; moisture starts degradation.
• Go by the best before date on the pot and keep it out of reach of young children.

What the published research reports

Antonio and colleagues (2021), eleven researchers writing for the International Society of Sports Nutrition, examined twelve common questions about creatine. They reported water retention in the first days as the most commonly reported adverse effect, while several training studies of five to ten weeks found no change in total body water, and they concluded that creatine is not an anabolic steroid, differing in structure, mechanism and legal category. Most authors declared advisory roles, research funding or other links with companies that make or sell creatine.

Kreider and colleagues (2022) graded each marketed form as having strong, some or no evidence of bioavailability, and set out the studies a manufacturer would need before calling a new form superior; two authors filed creatine patents, now expired or abandoned, while employed by a creatine manufacturer, and the third chairs that manufacturer's scientific advisory board on creatine. None of these papers tested CREATREN, and we make no health claim for it.

Related compounds and reading

• Creatine collection
• Performance nutrition
• Pre-workout
• Creatine and taurine: what the evidence supports
• How and when to take creatine
• How much protein do you need?
• What is Janoshik Analytical?

Glossary

• Creatine monohydrate: creatine crystallised with one water molecule.
• Anhydrous creatine: creatine with that water removed by drying.
• Phosphocreatine: the form in which muscle stores most of its creatine.
• Creatinine: creatine's breakdown product, excreted in urine and used as a routine laboratory marker.
• Micronised: milled to a smaller particle size.
• Taurine: an aminosulphonic acid not incorporated into proteins.
• Water activity: how available a product's water is for chemical reactions.
• Deliquescence: absorbing air moisture until a solid dissolves.
• Authorised health claim: a claim assessed and listed for use on foods.
• Dicyandiamide: a synthesis by-product found in some creatine raw material.

CREATREN is a food supplement, not a medicine. Food supplements are not a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Do not exceed the recommended daily portion stated on the label, and keep out of reach of young children. Sold to adults aged 18 or over. Nothing on this page is medical advice.

References

1. Antonio J, et al. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine supplementation: what does the scientific evidence really show? J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2021;18(1):13. PMID: 33557850.
2. Kreider RB, Jäger R, Purpura M. Bioavailability, efficacy, safety, and regulatory status of creatine and related compounds: a critical review. Nutrients. 2022;14(5):1035. PMID: 35268011.
3. Uzzan M, et al. Effect of water activity and temperature on the stability of creatine during storage. Drug Dev Ind Pharm. 2009;35(8):1003-1008. PMID: 19635041.
4. Geyer H, et al. Analysis of non-hormonal nutritional supplements for anabolic-androgenic steroids: results of an international study. Int J Sports Med. 2004;25(2):124-129. PMID: 14986195.