In
the last number of years, the occurrence of positive drug
tests in professional and international sport has been on
the rise.
Though the use of
banned substances has infiltrated the professional sports
arena, there have been a significant number of doping cases
where the athletes lay blame on contaminated, mainstream,
over the counter sport and nutritional supplements.
With the growing
popularity and use of sport supplements as well as the alarming
rise in positive tests associated with the use of supplements,
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected
to conduct an investigational study.
The purpose of the
investigation was to identify the accuracy of product labeling
and to verify the presence and the amount of non-labeled
illegal and banned substances in various mainstream supplements.
The results of this
investigation by the IOC stunned the sports community when
it was confirmed that 14.8% of the sports supplements tested
contained illegal and banned substances.
Prior to this study
by the IOC, the sports community believed that the use of
illegal and banned substances in over-the-counter sports
supplements was not particularly problematic.
Following
the IOC investigational study, the sports community could
no longer ignore the fact that the problem is far more serious
than predicted.
INTERNATIONAL
OLYMPIC COMMITTEE:
ANALYSIS OF NON-HORMONAL NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS
FOR ANABOLIC-ANDROGENIC STEROIDS |
Beginning
in 2000/2001, the IOC, concerned about the rise in positive
banned-substance testing results in athletes, started to
look at dietary supplements as the possible source.
In
the IOC investigational study, they examined 634 nutritional
supplements from 215 different providers/suppliers. This study
spanned 13 countries.
| • |
634 nutritional supplements |
| •
|
From
215 different providers |
| • |
From 13 countries |
| • |
From
215 suppliers |
Results
of the IOC investigational study were astounding, demonstrating
that 14.8% of the 634 nutritional
supplements contained substances that caused positive readings
in official drug tests.
| • |
94 of the 634 (14.8%) had substances (not found on the
product label) that would lead to a positive-reading
in an official drug test |
| • |
23
contained precursors of both nandrolone and testosterone |
| • |
62
contained precursors of testosterone |
| • |
7
contained precursors on nandrolone alone |
| • |
66
(10.4%) others had borderline results for various unlabeled
substances |
The
Results by Country:
Country |
No.
Products |
No.
"Positive" |
%
"Positive" |
Netherlands |
31 |
8
|
25.8% |
Austria
|
22 |
5 |
22.7% |
UK |
37 |
7 |
18.9% |
USA |
240 |
45 |
18.8% |
Italy |
35 |
5 |
14.3% |
Spain
|
29 |
4
|
13.8% |
Germany
|
129 |
15
|
11.6% |
Belgium |
30 |
2
|
6.7% |
France |
30 |
2 |
6.7% |
Norway |
30 |
1
|
3.3% |
Switzerland
|
13 |
-
|
- |
Sweden |
6 |
- |
- |
Hungary |
2 |
- |
- |
Total |
634 |
94 |
14.8% |
INVESTIGATION
INTO SUPPLEMENT
CONTAMINATION LEVELS IN THE US |
During
2006-2007, investigations involving 58 nutritional supplements
(sold within the United States) showed that 25% of the supplements
contained illegal steroids. The supplements were purchased
from popular retailers and internet sites in the U.S.
Four
of the samples tested netted inconclusive data, which is common
in contaminated products containing ingredients that cannot
be identified by HPLC.
Of
the remaining 54 samples that were analyzed:
| •
|
6
tested positive for banned stimulant contamination (11.1%) |
| •
|
13
contained various amounts of illegal steroids (25%) |
1-out
of every 5 Supplements are Contaminated
Stimulants and Anabolic Steroids Found in Dietary Supplements |
The
headlines read “DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS FOUND TO CONTAIN
AGENTS THAT CAUSE POSITIVE ANTIDOPING TESTING.”
The
journal publication entitled, “Stimulants and Anabolic
Steroids in Dietary Supplements”* confirmed that “Supplements
contain drugs that will cause athletes to test positive for
substances that are currently on the banned list.
The purpose of this study was to analyze the composition of
103 dietary supplements bought on the internet. The supplements
were dispatched in four different categories according to
their published contents:
| •
|
Creatine |
| •
|
Prohormones |
| •
|
Mental
Enhancers |
| •
|
Branched
Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) |
All
of the sports supplements were screened for the presence of
stimulants and main anabolic steroids parent compounds. At
the same time, the research was focused on the precursors
and metabolites of testosterone and nandrolone.
The study pointed out three products containing an anabolic
steroid, metandienone, in a very high amount. The ingestion
of such products induced a high quantity of metandienone metabolites
in urines that would be considered as a positive antidoping
test.
The results have also shown that one creatine product and
three "mental enhancers" contained traces of hormones
or prohormones not claimed on the labels and 14 prohormone
products contained substances other than those indicated by
the manufacturer.
The oral intake of the creatine product revealed the presence
of the two main nandrolone metabolites (19-norandrosterone
and 19-noretiocholanolone) in urine.
The
researchers concluded that:
“The situation in dietary supplements is that there
are still approximately one-in-five supplements on sale
that are contaminated – whether accidental or deliberate
– with products that are not declared on the label.”
|
| * |
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF
MEDICINE AND SCIENCE IN SPORTS; VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1,
PG 41-48. JAN 6, 2005 |
PROFESSIONAL
SPORTS SUPPLEMENT POLICIES |
| Professional
sports organizations have instigated their own internal
official policies regarding the use of supplements: |
| NFL |
The
NFL has selected an official supplier (EAS)
of sports supplements. EAS has invested a significant
amount of funds toward this program. NFL players are
told that they can use “Other brands at their own
risk.” |
| MLB |
MLB
also has an official supplier (NSF) of sports
supplements. MLB players are told they can use “Other
brands at their own risk.” |
| NBA |
The
NBA does not have an official supplier of sports supplements,
and they discourage the use of supplements. |
| NHL |
The
NHL does not have an official supplier of sports supplements,
and players are told to refer to the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency guidelines and website, which lists appropriate
supplements. |
| PGA |
The
PGA does not have an official supplier of sports supplements,
and golfers are advised to scrutinize the ingredients
used in supplements. |
| LPGA |
The
LPGA does not have an official supplier of sports supplements,
and golfers are advised to be wary of supplements. |
FTC
FINES COMPANIES FOR FALSE PRODUCT CLAIMS |
The
sports supplement industry is not the only marketing sector
that promotes unacceptable products to the public. Companies
promoting weight loss are among those targeted by
the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
In
2007, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued $25 Million
dollars in fines to companies who claimed their diet pill
products would cause weight loss and/or reduce the
risk of serious diseases, like cancer. All said claims were
not supported by scientific evidence.
As
a result, the following companies were ordered to pay fines
by the FTC:
| • |
Bayer was fined $3.2 Million for violating
an FTC order to provide evidence regarding the claimed
effects of One-A-Day Weight Smart pills. The Associated
Press reported that Bayer settled to avoid litigation. |
| • |
TrimSpa
paid $1.5 Million for unsubstantiated claims regarding
TrimSpa weight loss advertisements. |
| • |
Xenadrine
EFX made false claims that their green-tea-product
caused rapid weight loss and were ordered to pay between
$8 and $13 Million dollars. |
| • |
CortiSlim
& CortiStress were ordered to pay $12 Million
dollars for making unproven claims that CortiSlim caused
rapid weight loss, and that CortiStress would reduce
the risk of cancer, heart disease and other ailments. |
In
light of the verified presence of illegal and banned substances
in sports supplements and nutritional products used by athletes,
Human Sports Performance® provides independent verification
on sports products.
Products
submitted to Human Sports Performance® are required to meet
the following guidelines:
| •
|
Have
not been found to contain illegal and/or banned substances
by independent laboratory analysis |
| •
|
Meets the biochemical requirements of the athlete |
| •
|
Are
proven safe for human use |
| •
|
Provide
accurate label contents and information to the public |
Human Sports Performance® is
also dedicated to providing accurate information, in the field
of sports medicine and athletic performance, to the public.
To
that end, the Human Sports Performance® website provides a
plethora of scientific data for athletes and sports health
educators, including State-of-the-Art research, and recommended
methods for achieving Human Maximum Performance.
Jeff
Krushell
President
Human Sports Performance®
|
