Supplements Aren’t Always as Safe as They Seem
Nov 20, 2024
Supplements Aren’t Always as Safe as They Seem
Think all dietary supplements are free of drugs or banned substances in sport? You may want to think twice. Even your vitamin supplement or daily greens might just lead to a doping violation or positive drug test than can cost you a career or subject you to serious financial costs. Dietary supplements often appear harmless. They’re sold in stores, so what could go wrong? Plenty. The FDA can’t test every product and leaves it up to the manufacturer to follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) to ensure dietary supplements' identity, purity, quality, strength, and composition. In a profit-driven world, this can be like the inmates being in control of the asylum, as a new study in the journal Nutrients has revealed. This 2023 research shows a darker side, finding that across 50 different surveys there was a 28% risk of unintentional doping thanks to drug contamination in dietary supplements. For athletes and drug-tested professionals, this can mean unintentional doping violations that jeopardize careers and reputations. While these products promise beast-like performance or lightning-fast recovery, lax regulations may open the door to a hidden world of performance-enhancing drugs. The GMP has no requirements to test for banned substances or drug contamination. Only third-party certification can provide the extra protection athletes, military service members, and first responders need.
Contamination: The Secret Supplement Risk
Supplements are big business. It’s an industry valued at over $177 billion in 2023. With that kind of money in play, there are plenty of incentives to create a product that really works. Sometimes, this means finding creative ways to gain a competitive advantage. The Nutrients study highlights how dietary supplements can contain unapproved substances like steroids or stimulants, which don’t always show up on the label. After looking at data from 12 countries, they found a contamination rate of 12 – 58% with banned substances like steroids. Again, this contamination isn’t always innocent. Manufacturers sometimes slip in these substances to without the buyer’s knowledge. Athletes and drug-tested professionals might imagine that a product is safe just because it can be bought everywhere, but they risk exposure to banned substances that could lead to a positive drug test. This happens more than you might think. A 2022 study from Norway looked at 18 years of positive drug tests and found that athletes blamed contaminated supplements in 26% of cases and were able to prove it in 14%. These astounding numbers show the impact contaminated supplements have on sport.
Drugs like SARMs Might Be Hiding in Your Protein Supplement
Drugs are often banned not just because they enhance performance but also because they can cause harm. Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs) are the perfect example. SARMs like Andarine, Ostarine, LGD-4033 and others are developmental drugs not yet approved by the FDA. The FDA outlines a variety of adverse effects; increased risk of heart attack or stroke, sexual dysfunction, liver injury and acute liver failure, infertility, pregnancy miscarriage, and testicular shrinkage. Because of their potential to create anabolic effects similar to steroids they have become enormously popular and adverse effects are often overshadowed by promises of swollen muscles and maximum fitness. SARMs are often sold as dietary supplements, or packaged for ingestion as research chemicals. They remain widely available in the marketplace despite being illegal to sell for human consumption. This means they are being made somewhere in the supplement industry. This often happens at unscrupulous manufacturing facilities that may make such products using the same equipment your protein powder is made on. This is how even innocent products like protein powders or vitamin supplements can get contaminated with banned substances.
BSCG Certification: Your Safety Net Against Hidden Contaminants
The studies outline how contamination risks are rising for anyone who is a drug-tested athlete or professional. Fortunately, they can rely on third-party certification to protect themselves against contaminated supplements. By choosing third-party certified supplements, anyone who is drug tested like athletes, military service members and first responders, can reduce their risk of unintentionally consuming banned substances, which is vital in an industry where regulations can sometimes fall a little short. The 2023 study shows that it’s worth looking beyond the flashy labels and consider third-party testing an essential step in your wellness routine. This is true for drug-tested people and supplement manufacturers who want to protect their brands from falling victim to innocent contamination themselves. By prioritizing supplements that are certified for sport, military, or first responders by programs like BSCG Certified Drug-Free athletes and drug tested professionals can supplement with confidence knowing they aren’t putting their careers or health at risk. Dietary supplements are a playing field where minor mistakes can have major consequences. Protecting yourself, or your brand, from this brave new world of supplement contamination isn’t something you should have, it is something you must have!
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