Quality of Urine Ketone Test Strips: Name Brand vs. Store Brand

I've been using urine ketone test strips for the past month to make sure I'm maintaining a state of nutritional ketosis.  I started off with the Walgreen's store brand test strips, 100 strips for $17. 

 

I ran out of my Walgreen's test strips and figured I could replenish my supply at the UCLA Medical Center Pharmacy today.  They only carried the popular Bayer Brand Ketostix and the cost was double what I paid for at Walgreen's; it was $18 for 50 test strips.

This got me wondering if there is a difference in quality between the two brands, so I did a little research.  I performed a scholarly article search on UCLA's public library WiFi and searched the following terms and phrases:

• Brand comparison for urine ketone test strips
• Accuracy of urine ketone test strips
• Quality of urine ketone test strips
• Inconsistent results for urine ketone test strips
• Ketostix vs. Generic

...and I found nothing.

My next step was to perform a regular online Google search using the same search phrases.  I found a low-carb forum thread that put out the question if all strips were equal BUT there weren't any substantial replies.

Then I did what any other smart researcher would do and compared store and Amazon.com reviews to see what consumers thought about them.  

I looked at the Bayer Ketostix reviews on Amazon.com and the lowest review was a 3/5 star rating where the consumer was satisfied with the product but complained that her local drug stores didn't carry the Bayer brand.  Such a review makes me think that the Ketostix are pretty legit.

I looked at the reviews for the Walgreen's brand strips on their own store site.  The lowest rating was  1/5 stars and it was because the consumer compared the results of both strips on the same sample of urine (Ketostix vs. Walgreen's store brand). The store brand strip was significantly less sensitive to the presence of ketones; the shade of pink was much lighter on the store brand strip while the Bayer Ketostix was dark pink.  

MY OWN COMPARISION

I used the Ketostix strips the day I purchased them and saw that my shade of pink was darker than what I had witnessed with the Walgreen's brand.  (I would have posted the pic but I was in a public restroom with a bunch of other dudes...no camera allowed)  I didn't have any left to compare on the same urine sample but there was something to be said about the very dark pink result.  This got me to think that the Ketostix are a bit more sensitive to the presence of ketones because my diet and activity have been consistent for the month.

The instructions on the containers of both brands instruct you to immediately close the container after removing the test strip because the remaining test strips can be affected by moisture.  That being the case, I noticed that the Ketostix had a desiccant inside the container while the Walgreen's brand didn't.  I also saw that the Ketostix container had a screw-on top while the Walgreen's brand had a snap-on top.  I know that the combination of a screw-on top and a desiccant pack makes for a better job at keeping moisture out of the container and maintaining the quality of the strips.

One characteristic I found to be interesting was that the Bayer Ketostix strip was significantly longer than the Walgreen's brand.  This means less chance of one getting urine on their hands if using the strips while in the act of urinating.

MY FINAL CONCLUSION

If you're just starting out on this Ketogenic diet, I recommend you pay the extra couple of dollars and purchase the Bayer Ketostix.  They seem to be more sensitive and definitely have higher quality packaging.  One needs the sensitivity because decreased sensitivity could result in a negative reading when ketones are truly present.  I don't recommend the cheaper Walgreen's store brand strips until you have mastered the Ketogenic diet and simply need a little reinforcement to make sure things are going your way.

Hope this helps,

DAVE