Health Tips / IOC Study on Sports Supplements
IOC study leads to warning against the use of nutritional supplements by athletes
Based on the results of a study of 634 nutritional supplements, the Medical Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) warned athletes against their use and strengthened its call for industry and government action to ensure their quality.
The 13 country study found out of 634 samples tested, 94 (14.8%) contained substances, not listed on any label, that would have led to a positive doping test. Out of these 94 samples, 23 contained precursors (building blocks) of both nandrolone and testosterone, 64 contained precursors of testosterone alone and 7 contained precursors of nandrolone alone.
In addition to these 94 samples, 66 others (10.4%) returned borderline results for various unlabeled substances.
The 634 non-hormonal nutritional supplements were gathered from 215 different providers in 13 countries from October 2000 to November 2001. Ninety-one percent were purchased in stores or over the Internet. The others were obtained from the manufacturers. The IOC-accredited laboratory in Cologne, Germany, tested all supplements.
The country with the highest "percentage positive" was the Netherlands with 25.8%, followed by Austria at 22.7%. Results from the UK showed 18.9% or 7 out of 37 products gave "positive tests", almost identical to the US result of 18.8% from a larger sample size of 240 products.
No products from Ireland were tested. However, since most nutritional supplements in Ireland are sourced from overseas manufacturers there is no reason to believe that the situation in Ireland would be different from the international norm.
|
Country
|
Number of products
|
Number "positive"
|
Percentage "positive"
|
| Netherlands |
31
|
8
|
25.8%
|
| Austria |
22
|
5
|
22.7%
|
| UK |
37
|
7
|
18.9%
|
| USA |
240
|
45
|
18.8%
|
| Italy |
35
|
5
|
14.3%
|
| Spain |
29
|
4
|
13.8%
|
| Germany |
129
|
15
|
11.6%
|
| Belgium |
30
|
2
|
6.7%
|
| France |
30
|
2
|
6.7%
|
| Norway |
30
|
1
|
3.3%
|
| Switzerland |
13
|
-
|
-
|
| Sweden |
6
|
-
|
-
|
| Hungary |
2
|
-
|
-
|
| Total |
634
|
94
|
14.8%
|
Under the WADA rule of strict liability, athletes are responsible for whatever substance is found in their bodies. Athletes should be aware of the risks associated with the use of unlicensed nutritional supplements. We can safely recommend only the small number of nutritional supplements which carry a product authorisation from the Irish Medicines Board as these have been officially assessed for quality and safety.
There is no statistical data on the use of nutritional supplements in Irish Sport.
The IOC said the results of this study demonstrate to governments and the industry the need for greater quality control to ensure substances not found on the label are not found in the product. The IOC Medical Commission recommended controls, similar to those pertaining to the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, be applied to the production of nutritional supplements.
The IOC also stated that they will recommend to National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations (IFs) and Organizing Committees (OCOGs) that they adopt a cautious stance toward forming relationships with companies that produce nutritional supplements of which the quality cannot be guaranteed.
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- IOC Study on Sports Supplements
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