Tweet
According to the Dec. 3, 2009 Associated Press article, "USADA hoping to curb steroid-laced supplements," by Eddie Pells, what used to be called designer steroids available only to topflight athletes looking for an edge, are now so common that they're available online at many popular online supplement sites such as Amazon.com.
Because of this wide online availability of steroids in supplements, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) unveiled a program called `Supplement Safety Now' on December 2, 2009, trying to bring more attention to efforts to stop rogue manufacturers from selling steroids under the guise of legal dietary supplements.
The NFL, Major League Baseball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and more than a dozen other sports organizations have signed on as supporters of USADA's new initiative, designed to increase awareness of the problem and seek remedies. The goal is for the USADA to curb steroid-laced supplements.
The NFL, Major League Baseball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and more than a dozen other sports organizations have signed on as supporters of USADA's new initiative, designed to increase awareness of the problem and seek remedies. The goal is for the USADA to curb steroid-laced supplements.
Pages of websites are devoted to supplements that the USDA is looking at
You don't have to show your ID face to face when you buy supplements online. You don't have to prove you're an athlete, either. When steroids are put in supplements, if they are, the idea of steroids in supplements is a slap in the face to the entire supplement industry that's trying to help people naturally without drugs, caffeine, or other substances other than food extracts.
So the first step is to address the issue. Is it a problem for the entire industry? You know what the USADA thinks. What do you think? If you're an informed customer, how can you find out who to trust with your body, with safety issues?
Should the USADA be protective of athletes and those who pose online as athletes? Can children buy online with a relative's debit card if the buyer thinks they're over age 18?
The big problem is people are buying supplements online that have banned substances. Who banned the substances, why, and what have the substances done to people? Those are questions everyone wants to find out. But where can you go to get the information on safety, side effects, and outcomes? Is the only place to go the athlete's forums?
No athlete wants to take a tainted supplement and be banned for steroid use. That's where USADA enters as a mostly supportive partner in the supplement makers themselves.
Let's look at the entire supplement industry. It's a $23 billion industry in the U.S. Manufacturers of supplements that hire independent labs, distributors, and anyone else in the supplement industry don't want their health foods being infiltrated by steroid dealers.
What the supplement industry wants is enforcement of laws already on the books rather than new rules that will only exert more government control of the entire supplement industry. It's a fine rope to walk and keep balance.
One one hand, you're able to buy these kind of products from popular websites such as Amazon.com. On the other hand, what if the supplements you can buy from any popular online supplement buying site has supplements that contain products that are banned or otherwise clearly illegal? What happens in the case where the distributor doesn't know too much about the lab testing the ingredients in the supplements?
Outside of illegal substances such as certain steroids that are found online in some supplements, what about the amount of lead in mineral supplements that distributor's don't know about? If you ask the distributor, they'll say they don't manufacture the product, that another place does, perhaps a lab, and that the product such as a mineral comes from sea water, full of say...lead. How do you deal with those types of answers?
Maybe your first step is to check out the site for the Council for Responsible Nutrition. Who is enforcing the law when it comes to banned substances in supplements? And are the supplements bought online from different countries or from the USA? Where are the supplements with the banned steroids manufactured?
Should your second step research what has been done by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? That organization certain is active in trying to curtail the activity. The FDA investigated companies allegedly selling steroids under the labels of dietary supplements. Check out or research the BALCO investigation. There's an excellent article online from USA Today, "BALCO investigation: Key players," from back on April 27, 2006.
Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973 and based in Washington, D.C., is the leading trade association representing dietary supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. CRN companies produce a large portion of the dietary supplements marketed in the United States and globally, according to information on their site.
The Council's member companies manufacture popular national brands as well as the store brands marketed by major supermarkets, drug store and discount chains. These products also include those marketed through natural food stores and mainstream direct selling companies.
In addition to complying with a host of federal and state regulations governing dietary supplements in the areas of manufacturing, marketing, quality control and safety, the Council for Responsible Nutrition's 70+ manufacturer and supplier members also agree to adhere to additional voluntary guidelines as well as CRN’s Code of Ethics.
The USADA
Don't confuse the USADA ( U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) with the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). These are separate agencies with different goals. The World Anti-Doping Agency has announced the release of the 2010 Prohibited List which will take effect on January 1, 2010. USADA is providing this alert to notify athletes of the release of this list, and to highlight five major changes and clarifications. You can download this PDF file.
Please note that this alert only highlights some of the changes in the Prohibited List and is not intended to be a detailed summary.
Summary of Major Changes
1. The intramuscular injection of Platelet-Derived Preparations (such as Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP, and ‘blood spinning’) is prohibited, and therefore requires a Therapeutic Use Exemption. Platelet –derived preparations by other routes of administration (such as local injection into a joint, tendon, or ligament) will require only a USADA Website Declaration of Use.
2. WADA has added Glycerol as an example of a substance that can act as a Plasma Expander at certain dosages.
3. Two commonly prescribed inhaled beta-2 agonists, salbutamol (referred to as albuterol in the USA) and salmeterol, will only require a USADA Website Declaration of Use. Oral use of any beta-2 agonist (i.e. tablets, syrups), including albuterol and salmeterol is still prohibited. All other inhaled beta-2 agonists are also prohibited and require a Therapeutic Use Exemption prior to use.
4. WADA has clarified that Supplemental oxygen continues to be not prohibited.
5. Pseudoephedrine will be prohibited in-competition only. Pseudoephedrine may be found in cold and flu medications and decongestants that are often sold from behind the counter at pharmacies, but without a prescription. Athletes need to be certain the medications they take during, or just before competitions, do not contain pseudoephedrine.
Athletes need to allow enough time for the substance to pass from their body prior to competition, and to be aware of the slow excretion of pseudoephedrine from “delayed release” preparations. USADA is evaluating the 2010 Prohibited List and will soon provide further guidance on this matter. In the meantime, please consult the 2010 Prohibited List (available at USADA.org), or contact the Drug Reference Department at the US Anti-Doping Agency on [email protected] for further information or the Drug Reference Phone Line on 1-800-233-0393.
For questions on Therapeutic Use Exemptions or the Website Declaration Process, please contact the Drug Reference Department on [email protected] or visit the USADA site.
Last week, if you went to Amazon.com, you could have bought "P-Plex," a muscle builder that contains Madol, a designer steroid uncovered during the BALCO scandal in 2003. By Dec 2, the product was still being advertised on the site Wednesday at $69.77 a bottle. There are other popular sites you can buy it on just by keying in the word P-Plex on Google search engine.
Because of this wide online availability of steroids in supplements, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) unveiled a program called `Supplement Safety Now' on December 2, 2009, trying to bring more attention to efforts to stop rogue manufacturers from selling steroids under the guise of legal dietary supplements.
The NFL, Major League Baseball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and more than a dozen other sports organizations have signed on as supporters of USADA's new initiative, designed to increase awareness of the problem and seek remedies. The goal is for the USADA to curb steroid-laced supplements.
The NFL, Major League Baseball, the U.S. Olympic Committee and more than a dozen other sports organizations have signed on as supporters of USADA's new initiative, designed to increase awareness of the problem and seek remedies. The goal is for the USADA to curb steroid-laced supplements.
Pages of websites are devoted to supplements that the USDA is looking at
You don't have to show your ID face to face when you buy supplements online. You don't have to prove you're an athlete, either. When steroids are put in supplements, if they are, the idea of steroids in supplements is a slap in the face to the entire supplement industry that's trying to help people naturally without drugs, caffeine, or other substances other than food extracts.
So the first step is to address the issue. Is it a problem for the entire industry? You know what the USADA thinks. What do you think? If you're an informed customer, how can you find out who to trust with your body, with safety issues?
Should the USADA be protective of athletes and those who pose online as athletes? Can children buy online with a relative's debit card if the buyer thinks they're over age 18?
The big problem is people are buying supplements online that have banned substances. Who banned the substances, why, and what have the substances done to people? Those are questions everyone wants to find out. But where can you go to get the information on safety, side effects, and outcomes? Is the only place to go the athlete's forums?
No athlete wants to take a tainted supplement and be banned for steroid use. That's where USADA enters as a mostly supportive partner in the supplement makers themselves.
Let's look at the entire supplement industry. It's a $23 billion industry in the U.S. Manufacturers of supplements that hire independent labs, distributors, and anyone else in the supplement industry don't want their health foods being infiltrated by steroid dealers.
What the supplement industry wants is enforcement of laws already on the books rather than new rules that will only exert more government control of the entire supplement industry. It's a fine rope to walk and keep balance.
One one hand, you're able to buy these kind of products from popular websites such as Amazon.com. On the other hand, what if the supplements you can buy from any popular online supplement buying site has supplements that contain products that are banned or otherwise clearly illegal? What happens in the case where the distributor doesn't know too much about the lab testing the ingredients in the supplements?
Outside of illegal substances such as certain steroids that are found online in some supplements, what about the amount of lead in mineral supplements that distributor's don't know about? If you ask the distributor, they'll say they don't manufacture the product, that another place does, perhaps a lab, and that the product such as a mineral comes from sea water, full of say...lead. How do you deal with those types of answers?
Maybe your first step is to check out the site for the Council for Responsible Nutrition. Who is enforcing the law when it comes to banned substances in supplements? And are the supplements bought online from different countries or from the USA? Where are the supplements with the banned steroids manufactured?
Should your second step research what has been done by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)? That organization certain is active in trying to curtail the activity. The FDA investigated companies allegedly selling steroids under the labels of dietary supplements. Check out or research the BALCO investigation. There's an excellent article online from USA Today, "BALCO investigation: Key players," from back on April 27, 2006.
Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN)
The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973 and based in Washington, D.C., is the leading trade association representing dietary supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers. CRN companies produce a large portion of the dietary supplements marketed in the United States and globally, according to information on their site.
The Council's member companies manufacture popular national brands as well as the store brands marketed by major supermarkets, drug store and discount chains. These products also include those marketed through natural food stores and mainstream direct selling companies.
In addition to complying with a host of federal and state regulations governing dietary supplements in the areas of manufacturing, marketing, quality control and safety, the Council for Responsible Nutrition's 70+ manufacturer and supplier members also agree to adhere to additional voluntary guidelines as well as CRN’s Code of Ethics.
The USADA
Don't confuse the USADA ( U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) with the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). These are separate agencies with different goals. The World Anti-Doping Agency has announced the release of the 2010 Prohibited List which will take effect on January 1, 2010. USADA is providing this alert to notify athletes of the release of this list, and to highlight five major changes and clarifications. You can download this PDF file.
Please note that this alert only highlights some of the changes in the Prohibited List and is not intended to be a detailed summary.
Summary of Major Changes
1. The intramuscular injection of Platelet-Derived Preparations (such as Platelet Rich Plasma or PRP, and ‘blood spinning’) is prohibited, and therefore requires a Therapeutic Use Exemption. Platelet –derived preparations by other routes of administration (such as local injection into a joint, tendon, or ligament) will require only a USADA Website Declaration of Use.
2. WADA has added Glycerol as an example of a substance that can act as a Plasma Expander at certain dosages.
3. Two commonly prescribed inhaled beta-2 agonists, salbutamol (referred to as albuterol in the USA) and salmeterol, will only require a USADA Website Declaration of Use. Oral use of any beta-2 agonist (i.e. tablets, syrups), including albuterol and salmeterol is still prohibited. All other inhaled beta-2 agonists are also prohibited and require a Therapeutic Use Exemption prior to use.
4. WADA has clarified that Supplemental oxygen continues to be not prohibited.
5. Pseudoephedrine will be prohibited in-competition only. Pseudoephedrine may be found in cold and flu medications and decongestants that are often sold from behind the counter at pharmacies, but without a prescription. Athletes need to be certain the medications they take during, or just before competitions, do not contain pseudoephedrine.
Athletes need to allow enough time for the substance to pass from their body prior to competition, and to be aware of the slow excretion of pseudoephedrine from “delayed release” preparations. USADA is evaluating the 2010 Prohibited List and will soon provide further guidance on this matter. In the meantime, please consult the 2010 Prohibited List (available at USADA.org), or contact the Drug Reference Department at the US Anti-Doping Agency on [email protected] for further information or the Drug Reference Phone Line on 1-800-233-0393.
For questions on Therapeutic Use Exemptions or the Website Declaration Process, please contact the Drug Reference Department on [email protected] or visit the USADA site.
Last week, if you went to Amazon.com, you could have bought "P-Plex," a muscle builder that contains Madol, a designer steroid uncovered during the BALCO scandal in 2003. By Dec 2, the product was still being advertised on the site Wednesday at $69.77 a bottle. There are other popular sites you can buy it on just by keying in the word P-Plex on Google search engine.