As part of its commitment to clean sports from any performance enhancing drugs like steroids, the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) launched a new program called “Supplement Safety Now”. It is focused on eradicating the proliferation of dietary supplements which contain designer steroids. The agency is also concerned on the safety of every consumer especially that most of them are unaware of the potential dangers of taking these tainted supplements. “Most Americans are unaware that dangerous drugs are intentionally being sold as dietary supplements in retail and Internet stores across America, and that current laws allow for these products to get into the hands of our children too easily,” said Travis Tygart, USADA CEO. Tygart spearheaded the campaign which was launched this week together with several major sports organizations.

This effort of USADA will definitely have an impact on the dietary supplements industry. The agency got the support and approval of most sports organization in the country. The major partner of USADA in this campaign includes Major League Baseball, National Football League, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association (NBA), the U.S. Olympic Committee and other national sports and health organizations.

The campaign will urge the Congress to formulate stricter laws that will ensure the safety of the consumers buying supplements over-the-counter, retail stores and online. They want every supplements being sold in the market to be free from any dangerous drugs and steroids. A new website was also develop to encourage more organizations to join their cause. Tygart said that with the mainstream America now spending billions of dollars each year on over-the-counter products claiming to aid wellness and fitness, this is a public health concern, no longer restricted to the realm of elite level athletes wanting to escape detection. “What’s most alarming about this frightening trend is that the average consumer of today is likely taking these products under the misconception that they are improving their health, when in fact they may be putting themselves in serious jeopardy,” said the USADA chief.

Tygart is very active and vocal on the issue of tainted dietary supplements. He is worried on the current situation of the supplements industry since some of the “rogue” manufacturers can easily market and sell products online which contain anabolic steroids. The anti-doping head said that a supplement called “P-Plex” which is used to develop muscles contains designer steroids. As a designer steroid, Madol was discovered during the BALCO investigation in 2003. “When you can go onto a popular site like Amazon, and without ID, you can buy a product like this, it’s an obvious problem, not just for athletes,” he said. “It undermines the legitimacy of the legitimate supplement industry. Until these problems are adequately addressed, even the most informed customer cannot have confidence in their choice,” Tygart added.

Other major league organizations also share their own sentiments on the issue. Robert D. Manfred, Jr., Executive Vice President for Labor Relations of the MLB said, “These unscrupulous supplement manufacturers intentionally exploit loopholes in the federal regulations by selling products containing drugs and marketing them as ‘safe’ and ‘legal.’ Congress needs to act now to close these loopholes.” The Vice President of Law & Labor Policy of NFL, Adolpho A. Birch III welcomed this initiative. “The NFL enthusiastically supports this initiative for Congressional action to address this insidious and very serious threat to the health of the American public.”

In response to Tygart’s statement that designer steroids can be easily bought from the internet, president of the Council for Responsible Nutrition Steve Mister counter-acts. He said that it is disturbing. “If you’re able to buy these kind of products off a Web site like Amazon and those kind of products are clearly illegal in a number of regards,” he said. “But that means someone’s not doing their job if they’re not enforcing the law,” CRN president said.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS