Comments on: No wonder athletes take supplements: testosterone!

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:28:34 +0000

Nestle should also read this CRN press release dealing with sports supplements:

http://www.crnusa.org/CRNPR09ResponseSportsIllustrated051909.html

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:09:03 +0000

Marian Nestle consistently gets it wrong whenever writing about regulation of dietary supplements. Even the NYT article had this paragraph:

“But if federal authorities find a supplement to contain an undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredient like a steroid, the agency considers the product to be an illegal, unapproved drug.”

The law is very clear; Any supplement maker that adulterates a product with steroids is committing a serious violation of the law. The problem is not one of regulation. The problem is the FDA’s non-enforcement of existing law. All such adulterated products can be seized. The manufacturer is subject to fines and/or imprisonment. It’s incomprehensible why American Cellular Labs would receive only a warning letter from the FDA.

I doubt if Nestle has ever actually read DSHEA or other laws pertaining to supplements. Before she includes more innacurate information in her columns, she should at least read this explanation of supplement regulation by The Council for Responsible Nutrititon:

http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:iSAe_YgYkBMJ:www.crnusa.org/pdfs/CRNBackgrounder_DS%2520regulations0609.pdf+Mike+Green+Background+FDA&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:45:10 +0000

Yeah, when I was on the basketball team in high school, everyone knew “supplement” was code for steroids.

By: Janet Camp

Janet Camp — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:53:34 +0000

I would so love to see supplements heavily regulated (by rx only, ideally), but it seems hopeless. People are so “into” them and they are completely ubiquitous at this point.

By: Daniel K Ithaca, NY

Daniel K Ithaca, NY — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:36:00 +0000

If these products were banned for use in competitive sports, the message would get out and I bet use would significantly drop.
NCAA, NJCAA, , NPHSAA (Nat’l Pub HS Athletic Association) could get involved with this testing randomly and of course the best teams. This wouldn’t though substitute for better regulation.