Supplement Contamination

Athletes Protected by Analytical Excellence?

Mark J. Tallon, B.Sc M.Sc Ph.D

Oxygenix Consultancies technical writing services

Leading commercial, trade, regulatory associations in the UK gathered this month (June, 2003) to discuss possibilities of implementing an effective framework to tackle recent contamination difficulties faced by both European and US dietary supplement manufacturers. Since the release of the Schanzer report commissioned by the IOC in 1999 showing 18% of all dietary supplements may lead to a positive doping offence, there has been increasing commercial awareness of the adverse publicity companies would face if proven to be connected with contaminated products.

David Hall CEO of HFL analytical laboratories (UK) and organiser of the recent meeting said “we hope that as an outcome of this symposium; suppliers will consider a rigorous quality control program for their products. HFL is in a fortunate position as an internationally recognised ISO 17025 accredited and GLP compliant organisation to be the first to offer the industry a fully validated and accredited screening system. We hope this system will go on to give suppliers and manufactures unrivalled confidence that any testing will meet exacting standards”

The British Olympic Medical Committee’s (BOMC) head physiologist Dr.Greg Whyte explained “it is at present the position of the BOMC that the use of specific dietary supplementation including carbohydrate and electrolyte replacement drinks could not be recommended. Firstly because of the legal stance of the IOC and secondly that there is no officially recognised trade mark or guarantee that dietary supplements will not cause athletes to fail a drug test”

At present the work carried out by HFL is only a small part of its annual £7million turnover and is run along side extensive doping control and pharmaceutical research activities. Concerns were raised at the meeting by Kaare Axelson marketing director at UK-based Buckton Scott Group regarding the cost of the testing and what if any claims could be made via the UK based Foods Standards Agency (FSA). In this way any supplement supplier offering a drug screened product to the market would be seen as adding value to their products rather than costs.

If successful, this form of analytical branding may aid athletes avoid high risk nutritional supplements and help restore confidence in UK sports supplement manufacturers. The dietary sports supplement industry represents $2 billion a year growth industry with total global revenue sales projected to be in excess of $4.5 billion by 2007. The incentive of a greater market share should help to improve manufacturing practices. In turn this may help to dispel the view that using sports supplements presents an unjustifiable risk for athletes who encounter IOC drug testing procedures. In closing, a representative of the FSA supported the meeting and looked forward to greater consultation between regulatory and industry bodies.

Mark James Tallon, (B.Sc.,M.Sc.,Cbiol.,MIBiol.,CSCS) is CEO and Chief Science Officer of Oxygenics Ltd, a nutritional consultancy firm based in the United Kingdom. Oxygenics provides scientific and technical intelligence services to the dietary food and supplement industry on issues regarding product development and food law.

He can be contacted @
www.OxygeniX-Consultancies.com
mark@oxygenics.co.uk

Sports Nutrition: Celebrating 50 years of advancement
Tallon, Mark J., B.Sc M.Sc CBiol MIBiol CSCS

Printed in the UK

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[1] Address reprint requests to: Mark J. Tallon,B.Sc M.Sc Ph.D B.Sc M.Sc CBiol MIBiol CSCS, CEO and Chief Science Officer, Oxygenics Limited, UK. Email: mark@oxygenics.co.uk Web: www.Oxygenix-consultancieS.com