Jul 30 2009
2 Nutritional Supplements Pulled Out Due to Potent Steroid Content
The company producing 2 popular nutritional supplements decided to pull out its products from its franchise stores and other retail outlets when the FDA confirmed that their supplements contain anabolic steroids. American Cellular Labs (ACL) advised its distributors to remove from their shelves Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme. They are also waiting for further guidance from the Food and Drug Administration regarding these tainted supplements. This action by ACL was also forced by a recent raid on one of its distributors in San Diego County.
In the report of Mark Zeigler of the Union Tribune, federal agents raided a Max Muscle store in San Francisco for selling Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme. The residence of American Cellular Labs (ACL) chief executive Maurice Sandoval was also raided by the agents. Jeff Novitzky, who headed the investigation, said that these two supplements were found to have designer steroids based on the laboratory test conducted by the FDA. Jeff Novitzky also handled the investigation of the BALCO operation in 2003.
Based on the laboratory results, Tren Extreme and Mass Extreme contain 4-estra and Madol (also known as DMT) which are commonly banned in professional sports organization including the Olympics. A user will surely fail a urine test if tested by these organizations. It will be considered as doping and causing an athlete to be suspended or banned from their sports.
However, this will be a continuing problem for the authorities since the supplements industry is unregulated. Since there is a huge demand for legal steroids, nutritional supplements company may pumped up their products with anabolic steroids. Most of the times, supplements contains traces of steroids and other banned substances. One of these cases is the StarCaps supplements which caused Pat and Kevin Williams of the NFL to fight in court for their suspension. Another case is the suspension of swimmer Jessica Hardy who failed to participate in the Olympics because of a supplement. Chinese athletes also faced the same fate with Hardy due to supplements tainted with steroids. Regular users may enjoy the benefit of these supplements since it gives favorable results for them.
Tren Extreme and Mass Extreme were considered as one of their popular products according to a Max Muscle employee. These are popular among regular bodybuilders and high school athletes. Anti-doping experts were worried on the big number of users of these supplements in high school football players because of possible side effects on their body. According to Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, these supplements are popular among high school students because its works and they think it’s safe. “Based on what we know, every parent of a high school athlete should sit down with their kids and find out whether they’re using this trash as it is easy to buy at the local mall,” he said. If they found out that their children are using these supplements regardless of how long they are using it, they have to immediately consult a doctor. “Not just parents, but all consumers ought to be outraged that the system allows these unscrupulous steroid salesmen to profit off our children’s health,” Tygart added.
Novitzky was also alarmed by the potential problems that will be caused by the supplements from ACL. Based on the Medwatch Program of the FDA, Tren Xtreme and Mass Xtreme are linked to “liver and kidney complications”. He cites as an example the case of a 38-year-old male patient in California who was hospitalized after using these supplements. The patient suffers from severe liver dysfunction and acute renal failure. The doctor already required the patient to undergo kidney dialysis.
These nutritional supplements were available online through ACL website and other retail stores which include the Max Muscle. Other popular health supplements store in San Diego like GNC and the Vitamin Shoppe denied selling these supplements. The CEO of Max Muscle, Joe Wells, said that they operate on a franchise model and they do not conduct any testing of the supplements on their shelves. “There are literally thousands of products on the open market. It’s tough to police them all,” Wells said.
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