Military Discounts May Be Leading Service Members to Poor Quality Supplements
Mar 27, 2025
Military Discounts May Be Leading Service Members to Poor Quality Supplements
The military celebrates discipline, precision, and high performance. These qualities are expected from military service members, and other tactical professionals including law enforcement, and first responders, who must be at their best when lives are on the line. The immense responsibility these people hold is also why they’re subject to strict drug testing. Yet, many who serve may be playing Russian roulette every time they take a supplement. A single failed drug test can mean losing rank, pay, or an entire career. While the sports world loves to grab the headlines with doping scandals, drug-tested tactical professionals face enormous consequences of their own. This overlooked fact was made clear by a recent investigation published in JAMA Network outlining how military service members are potentially at risk due to military discounts that advertise supplements that in many cases have significant quality concerns.
Discounts That Could Lead to Positive Drug Tests
Many supplement companies offer military discounts, but this doesn’t necessarily mean the products are always of suitable quality for drug-tested tactical professionals. The JAMA Network investigation analyzed 30 weight loss supplements bought online that were advertised with discounts for people in the military. Of those products, 25 had inaccurate labels, with 24 of them misbranded, and 7 of them had hidden components detected. Possibly the most worrying find was that 10 of these supplements had substances prohibited for use by anyone in the military. In this investigation, 83% of the products had inaccurate labels. Overall this study suggests that predatory marketing tactics were offering low-quality weight loss supplements to military members that could put them at risk of a positive drug test.
Don’t Confuse Made Up Seals for Third Party Certification
The online stores offering discounts made it seem like they were on the side of tactical professionals. The investigation said they used marketing language such as “We are proud to offer … to salute military personnel” and “To thank you for your service.” The researchers were quick to note that no product had an independent, third-party certification seal on the label to show it had been tested by an independent laboratory for quality or contaminants. There was a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) seal or text on 14 products, but these seals are often made up by brands with no third-party verification and the researchers note such seals and text should not be mistaken as indications for safety, quality, or federal approval.
Low Quality Supplements and Contamination Concerns
This might be a growing trend because another paper in the journal nutrients looked at the label accuracy and quality of selected weight loss supplements sold on or near US Military Bases. As many as 82% of the products had inaccurate labels, and 91% scored a “no-go” according to the Operational Supplement Safety Risk Assessment Scorecard. None had a third-party certification seal. Tactical professionals are the ones who suffer the consequences when they trust weight loss supplements that haven’t been scrutinized by a third-party. Even seemingly harmless supplements aren’t always safe. A weight loss product that shares a production line with a product that contains a banned substance can end up with trace amounts still present. A fat burner that includes unlisted stimulants can trigger a positive test. For those in drug-tested professions, the “I didn’t know” excuse won’t hold up. Military members, law enforcement, and first responders are expected to take full responsibility for what goes into their bodies, whether they know if their supplement was contaminated or not. A concept known as strict liability.
BSCG Third-Party Certification Offers a Solution
If someone is a drug-tested tactical professional, third-party certification isn’t just necessary - it’s essential. Basic manufacturing standards of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) do not focus on the concern of banned substance contamination. Third-party certification programs go above and beyond industry standards to test products for banned substances to ensure they’re clean. The BSCG Certified Drug Free program represents the gold standard, with a standard requirement to screen every lot of certified products for more than 500 banned substances. Some leading third-party certification programs for sport do not require every lot to be tested leaving potential holes for banned substances to slip through. For drug-tested professionals like military service members, choosing certified supplements isn’t just about staying in compliance - it’s about protecting a livelihood and a reputation. In a career where readiness is everything, no one can afford to take a risk on an unverified supplement. With rigorous third-party certification military service members and tactical professionals can be confident that banned substances aren’t going to be hiding in their supplements.
CERTIFIED CLIENTS
Search by Lot, Product, Brand, Category, or Other Keyword.
Certified Drug Free
Certified Quality
Certified GMP
