MLB On Board With ‘Supplement Safety Now’

Posted by David Wade on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 6:52 pm

Major League Baseball is one of several athletic organizations that are supporting a group that is urging Congress to enact tighter controls over the 20 billion dollar supplement industry.

Supplement Safety Now ”was founded by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, with support from Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the U.S. Olympic Committee, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League.” 

The organization’s hope is to draw more attention to an industry that markets pills promising results ranging from weight loss to sexual enhancement.  They also produce products pitched to athletes as legal muscle-building substances, which is why MLB and other professional sports are interested.

Criticism is nothing new for the supplement industry.  Nutrition texts have long warned that supposed benefits are at best limited, and often non-existent.  Company claims of incredible results are not backed by clinical trials and long-term studies of side effects are lacking.  The increased scrutiny of late stems from more and more manufacturers essentially sneaking undisclosed drugs in their products.  In the sports world, the controversy surrounds the addition of anabolic steroids to concoctions marketed to promote muscle growth.

You may ask why companies would add steroids illegally to products pitched in malls all over the country, and the answer is very simple- because the illegal drugs are what make them actually work.  Without something added to boost testosterone, most (if not all) supplements claiming to increase lean muscle mass would be as fake as the spray tans on their photo-shopped ‘after’ photos. 

The movement gained momentum February 3rd as Senator John McCain proposed to Congress that these types of products must, “register with the Food and Drug Administration.”  Passage of the bill could force companies to list all ingredients of their products and allow the FDA to pull unsafe products off of shelves. 

Supplement Safety Now’s website links to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine that outlines the case for more regulation.  One poll used in the article indicates that most Americans believe that supplements have government approval, but currently these pills and powders fall under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, and some believe the DSHEA lacks the bite that the new bill could provide.

Congress reviewed the laws back in the fall of 2009 and found that some manufacturers in the supplement industry sold products that could pose serious health threats-

“Unlike pharmaceutical companies, which must provide the agency with proof of a drug’s safety and efficacy before it is approved for sale, natural products companies do not have to submit dietary supplements for clearance before they go on the market.”

One example of the potential dangers are seen in a case that gained attention in 2003 involving Baltimore Oriole pitcher Steve Bechler.  His death at the beginning of spring traning that year sparked interest from MLB and helped pave the way for MLB’s current PED policy.

Opponents of this new measure say that existing laws already prohibit companies from adding harmful ingredients to their products and that those laws simply need better enforcement.  Of course, the strongest backers of this stance are the supplement companies themselves, as they see further regulation a threat to their income.

Some athletes have claimed that their positive tests are due to taking supplements they understood to be legal.  With information coming out about companies illegally supplementing their supplements with steroids, I have a much easier time believing someone like David Ortiz when he claims his positive test did not come from taking illegal drugs.

MLB’s interest revolves around protecting their players from positive tests that sully an image the league is trying to improve with regards to PEDs.  A more important result would be putting more focus on an industry that values aggressive marketing over testing and disclosure.