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New research highlights supplements risk

Russell Langley - 28/07/2008

The study found that 1 in 10 supplements contained prohibited substances
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The importance of athletes thinking carefully about which supplements they use has been highlighted by research conducted by HFL Sport Science and Lucozade Sport which found that 10.5% of 152 supplements it tested contained prohibited substances not listed on the label.

Responding to the research, Andy Parkinson, Acting Director of Drug-Free Sport at UK Sport said:

“We know great strides have been made by many manufacturers in ensuring the supplements they produce are not contaminated. However, the research highlights the fact this isn’t the case across the board and emphasises how important it is for athletes to consider their options with regards to the use of supplements.

“Our message to athletes is clear – ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to supplements and ‘strict liability’ still applies. If you test positive as a result of using a contaminated supplement you will face a sanction under the World Anti-Doping Code and could be looking at up to a two-year ban. We therefore encourage all athletes to minimise the risk by taking the time to make sensible, informed decisions about supplements.”

UK Sport recently issued a new Position Statement for athletes which references the Informed Sport programme – a new initiative by HFL which is designed to evaluate supplement manufacturers for their process integrity and to screen supplements and ingredients for the presence of substances that appear on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s List of Prohibited Substances and Methods. At the time, Parkinson said:

“We believe that Informed Sport is a positive step forward and we welcome the approach being taken by HFL and the supplements industry to support athletes in assessing the risk. Part of the process athletes need to go through when thinking about using supplements is to distinguish between companies that follow quality assurance procedures to the highest standards and those companies that do not. This is particularly important with so many products readily available via the internet which may lay claim to being ‘drug-free’ when there are no guarantees that this is the case.”