Olympics Are A “Wild Card” For Supplement Industry Publicity

The Olympics inspire fitness enthusiasts to improve performance, which could translate to higher sales of legitimate supplements, but if athletes blame supplements for drug testing violations, the industry incurs bad publicity and consumer confidence slips.

The Olympics could boost supplement sales in the sports category this year as athletes and those they inspire seek a competitive edge, but the high-profile games also could generate damaging negative publicity for the industry if athletes blame positive drug tests on supplements, stakeholders warn.

“The Olympics are always a wild card and a concern,” said Loren Israelsen, executive director of the United Natural Products Alliance.

The games can inspire fitness enthusiasts of all levels to improve performance, which could translate to new sales of legitimate products. But, Council for Responsible Nutrition President Steve Mister notes, “when there are Olympics, there will be athletes who will blame their supplements” for drug testing violations, and that can create bad publicity for the industry.

Even if tests later show a steroid or substance for which an athlete tested positive is not in the supplement, the damage is done to the industry’s reputation and consumer confidence is shaken, he said.

Games Could Fan DMAA Fire

This year’s summer games in London “could prove an even greater inherent risk” than previous global sporting events because of the growing controversy surrounding the stimulant methylhexaneamine – also known as dimethylamylamin, or DMAA – and the sheer number of supplements containing the ingredient could lead to a positive doping result, said Ed Wyszumiala, general manager of dietary supplement programs at the public health-focused non-profit NSF International.

During the 2010 Commonwealth Games in India several athletes lost their gold medals after testing positive for DMAA, which is banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the World Anti-Doping Agency and others, he pointed out. The stimulant, which commonly is sold as geranium, also recently made headlines when the U.S. military banned it from store shelves on bases after it was discovered in the blood of two soldiers who died during training (Also see "U.S. Military Investigates Supplement Ingredient DMAA, Bans Sales" - Pink Sheet, 9 Jan, 2012.).

DMAA “probably is the most important question mark at the moment in terms of sports nutrition,” Israelsen said.

DMAA “has many facets to it: questions [of] whether or not it is an NDI or not, synthetic or not,” he said. “It is a subject of active interest by a lot of stakeholders in the industry.”

The issue of tainted products sold as supplements extends beyond DMAA and the sports and fitness categories to “all areas of the natural products industry – from brand marketers to retailers,” said Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association.

He reminded firms they must stay abreast of these issues in the coming year partly because “FDA has indicated repeatedly that this issue is at the top of its list of enforcement priorities as these illegal products pose a threat to public safety.”

AHPA offers a tool for keeping up with these issues, the KeepSupplementsClean.org website, which the trade group launched in 2011. The site is designed to keep the dietary supplement industry, the public and the trade informed on issues related to tainted products sold as supplements, McGuffin explained.

A Tip To Stay Ahead Of The Risks

With the potential for a contaminated product to cause a high-profile issue for the supplement industry during the Olympics, Mister said CRN is trying “to get on the right side of this issue” in advance via several measures.

“We have asked FDA to meet with us again so we can talk about the tainted products issue and see where there are areas for partnerships where industry and the agency can work together to get these products off the market,” he said.

The agency and major industry trade groups met in 2010 to address the issue of tainted products masquerading as supplements. Together they launched and promoted an anonymous tip line at FDA to which firms can report suspected tainted products (Also see "FDA, Trade Groups Team Up To Bolster Enforcement On Tainted Supplements" - Pink Sheet, 20 Dec, 2010.).

As the summer Olympics approach, Mister reminds firms to use the tip line, which FDA claims is producing actionable tips (Also see "FDA Supplement Enforcement Priorities Go Beyond NDI Notification" - Pink Sheet, 31 Oct, 2011.).

“If you get raw material and you test it and think it is not what it is supposed to be, you need to do more than reject it and send it back to the supplier,” Mister said. Firms need to report the tainted product via the tip line or through FDA’s website, otherwise it’s likely the supplier “will resell it to someone who is not as conscious as you are,” he added.

“Yes, that means you have to pull your head up out of the bunker and take a stand, but that is what is necessary to protect the industry and everyone has a role in doing that,” Mister said.

Third Party Certification Sets Products Apart

Pursuing third party certifications that verify supplements are free of contaminants and banned substances is one way companies can head off potential public relations damage posed by tainted supplements during the Olympics, Mister said.

Certification programs also can help rebuild bridges between the supplement industry and the sporting world, which 10 years ago perceived supplements as dangerous and discouraged athletes from using supplements, Wyszumiala said.

Certification allows industry to counter the public relations impact of spiked or adulterated products by saying, “Here is what responsible industry does. Here is what we do to help provide these safer quality products for the professional and elite sports organizations,” said Wyszumiala.

Wyszumiala’s employer NSF International offers one such certification: the NSF Certified for Sport program.

NSF Certified for Sport tests products for more than 165 banned substances, to ensure a product matches its label and contains no harmful levels of ingredients, either nutrients or contaminants. The certification process also includes a facility good manufacturing practices inspection and ongoing annual product monitoring and testing by the independent public health non-profit organization.

Israelsen lauded the program as “probably the most effective program we have because it is a lot control based system,” which means every batch that bears the certification seal is tested against a set of analytical criteria.

Testing for banned substances will set firms back about $3,000 for each lot or batch, which is on top of $6,000 to $10,000 annually for the other elements of the certification, said Wyszumiala.

He acknowledges testing each lot is expensive and might be an “unbudgetable cost” for some firms. NSF meets these firms partway by allowing lot-specific testing for banned substances. Some firms might opt to test only one or two lots of a product, which are the only lots allowed to bear the certification. These lots would be set aside and sold to athletes who demand that level of assurance.

Other firms will test each lot as a way to protect their brand as an insurance policy, or if the product sells to a larger consumer base, he said.

Israelsen said the cost can be worth it and he hopes the certification is evidence of “the natural evolution for improving process.”

NSF also launched a smart phone application Jan. 24 that allows consumers easily to search for NSF certified products. NSF has certified more than 170 products from 39 companies since the program began in 2004 as part of a partnership with the National Football League. Among these, NSF certified since late November Avidaco’s Active Plus PRO joint health product, The Vitamin Shoppe’s True Athlete supplement line and ZeaVision’s line of EyePromise supplements, according to NSF.

In addition to NSF Sport, other certifications that can “set you above the crowd” are offered by the U.S. Pharmacopeia and the Natural Products Association, Mister said, noting CRN does not endorse a specific program.

The USP Dietary Supplement Verification Program tests supplements and ingredients against standards in the U.S. Pharmacopeia and the National Formulary, conducts an onsite manufacturing audit for GMP and USP Standards compliance, randomly tests off-the-shelf products to confirm continued compliance and thoroughly reviews manufacturing and quality control documents.

NPA offers two certifications: a GMP Certification that uses third party auditors to inspect facilities onsite – and the Natural Certification for Personal Care Products, which verifies personal care products claiming to be natural use almost only natural ingredients, were not tested on animals, use biodegradable ingredients, are in environmentally sensitive packaging and do not include ingredients suspected of harming humans.