USA TODAY · WEDNESDAY,DECEMBER5,2007 · 3C In focus Some supplements have hidden risks Products with steroids, illegal By Sean Dougherty, USA TODAY stimulants put At sports.usatoday.com more than just If you take supplements, how concerned are you that they contain steroids or illegal stimulants? careers at stake Will you stop taking them? Share your thoughts in the online version of this story and read the complete HFL report. By A.J. Perez USA TODAY Obafemi Ayanbadejo went through a list of ingredients when he shopped for sup- plements last January and found nothing objectionable. An NFL drug test later that month proved otherwise. “A failed drug test is a bigger black eye than a DUI,” says Ayanbadejo, a fullback and special teams player who tested posi- tive for a form of the steroid nandrolone and received a four-game suspension. “In my case, people ran away from me saying, ‘He failed a test for performance-enhanc- ing drugs. He’s cheating. He’s really trying to get an advantage on the field.’ ” Ayanbadejo, released by the Arizona Cardinals soon after the failed tests and still searching for a club after a stint with the Chicago Bears, isn’t the first athlete to say a positive drug test could be traced to a con- taminated supplement. Tampa Bay out- fielder Alex Sanchez in 2005 and San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman in 2006 said the same after positive tests. “It became answer 1-A in the textbook for athletes who got pinched in a drug test: By Elaine Thompson, AP Point the finger at a dietary supplement By Mike Buscher company,” says Daniel Fabricant, vice for USA TODAY president of scientific and regulatory affairs No team: for the Natural Products Association. “It’s Obafemi Supplement policies gotten to where it’s become ludicrous.” Ayanbadejo, Maybe not. A study set to be released to- left, remains vary across leagues day, obtained by USA TODAY and commis- out of the The supplement policies of selected sioned by Informed-Choice, a non-profit NFL. Ayan- pro sports leagues: coalition of U.S. supplements companies, badejo, shows 13 of 52 supplements tested be- above leap- NFL: Has official supplier (EAS); players tween July 2006 and January 2007 at a ing over the told they can use other brands at their British lab had small amounts of steroids Seahawks’ risk. banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency Kelly Hern- and all major sports leagues. don in a MLB: Has official supplier (NSF); play- Six supplements had measurable 2006 game, ers told they can use other brands at amounts of ephedrine, a stimulant ban- says a con- their risk. ished from the market after it was thought taminated NBA: No official supplier; discourages to be a factor in the deaths of Minnesota supplement use of supplements. Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer caused him and Baltimore Orioles minor league pitcher to test posi- NHL: No official supplier; players told Steve Bechler this decade. tive for a to refer to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency “This is very eye-opening,” says New form of the website, which lists appropriate York-based internist Gary Wadler, a mem- steroid nan- supplements. ber of WADA’s Prohibited List and Methods drolone. Sub-Committee. “Clearly, the data suggests PGA: No official supplier; golfers ad- things aren’t fine. Either the laws are not vised to scrutinize ingredients of there or they’re not being enforced.” supplements. The real danger, beyond athlete suspen- LPGA: No official supplier; players ad- sions, is the harm that could come from vised to be wary of supplements. the steroids and stimulants found in the supplements. “Everything is a factor of dosage and du- halted production because of “political ration,” Wadler says. “If you’re not being hype demonizing (the) legal personal drug-tested, you could be consuming choice for non-competing individuals.” these supplements without knowing “I think the company was trying to be you’re taking anabolic steroids. The risk to cute by creating something that mimics a your health is real.” banned substance,” Ayanbadejo says. “It Under the U.S. Dietary Supplement was labeled and nothing harmful was list- Health and Education Act of 1994, supple- ed. A lot of companies tell you in one way ments do not fall under the same Food and or another that you should stay away from Drug Administration approval process as it if you’re going to be tested.” prescription drugs. The FDA can take ac- Ayanbadejo says he’s considering taking tion only if a supplement is found to be un- legal action against ALRI. safe after it reaches the market, as hap- Rea says Ayanbadejo should have fol- pened with the supplements containing lowed the NFL’s supplement program, ephedrine. which steers players to products made by As the natural product industry bal- EAS. Baseball has a similar program with looned to an estimated $22.5 billion in an- supplement maker NSF. Other leagues ei- nual sales, according to trade journal Natu- ther dissuade their players from taking ral Foods Merchandiser, the laws remained By Steve Perez, The Detroit News By Robert Hanashiro, USA TODAY supplements or point players toward the largely untouched. But over the last year, Dubious distinction: In 2005, Alex Sanchez became the first Benched: Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman served a four- U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for information. federal lawmakers have mandated closer major leaguer suspended under baseball’s doping policy. game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance. “The response of the players to this pro- monitoring of the industry that should, the gram has been very positive,” NFL spokes- FDA says, lead to safer supplements. Popular retailers involved ment, not to single out any one company. “I don’t think it’s a large problem at all,” man Greg Aiello says. “The Players Associa- Starting Dec. 22, supplement companies “Naturally, no reputable company wants says David Seckman, executive director tion strongly endorses it and players on are required to report “serious” adverse ef- It wasn’t the fringe elements of the sup- even trace elements of an unsafe substance and CEO of the Natural Products Associa- nearly every team have ordered products fects of their products to the FDA, including plements industry that Informed-Choice in its products,” Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a tion. “Organizations like ours have stan- approved under the certification program. resulting hospitalization, disability and and its lab targeted. Their representatives longtime advocate for the supplements in- dards. There are going to be people out Most players appreciate the program.” death. traveled to various retail stores around the dustry, said in a statement today. “By law, there with their own Internet site that Beyond Informed-Choice, other industry More stringent “good manufacturing USA and a couple of popular online stores supplements cannot contain steroids. It’s il- don’t want to be part of an organization groups have offered a seal to show con- practices” began to roll out in August “so —and purchased supplements they legal and that product is no longer consid- like ours. That’s a very small percentage.” sumers a supplement has been tested and that consumers can be confident that the thought a high school athlete would be in- ered a nutritional supplement, it’s an adul- the company follows stricter manufactur- products they purchase contain what is on terested in, according to Dave Hall, chief terated product.” Ayanbadejo considers lawsuit ing practices. the label,” FDA Commissioner Andrew C. executive of HFL, the UK-based, WADA- Contamination or tainted raw materials GNC, the nation’s largest nutritional von Eschenbach said in a statement in approved lab that conducted the study. could be one culprit, but there could be a It’s not known whether ALRI Industries’ product chain, says it heavily tests its prod- June. All supplements companies must Names of the specific supplements and more nefarious explanation. “It’s very pos- Max LMG, the supplement Ayanbadejo ucts and third-party companies need to comply by June 2010. where they were purchased weren’t re- sible a few companies could be putting says he took, was tested. Ayanbadejo says provide certificates of analysis before their The FDA “is always concerned about vealed, but Hall says some of the best- steroids into their products” intentionally, he took the supplement with the words products can be sold, according to Gerald J. products that may put the public health at selling supplements were purchased from says Jeffrey Stout, director of the University “Muscle Strength Hardness” emblazoned Stubenhofer Jr., senior vice president and risk,” spokeswoman Kimberly Rawlings popular retailers. Informed-Choice awards of Oklahoma’s Metabolic and Human Body on the bottle for three weeks in January. chief legal counsel. said. “When FDA learns of a product that is aseal to supplements makers whose prod- Composition Laboratories. “People get ALRI owner Author Rea says Max LMG “GNC only deals with the most reputable adulterated or misbranded, including a di- ucts are tested through HFL. Executive di- phenomenal results and then word stopped making the product in 2005, well vendors in the industry,” Stubenhofer says. etary supplement, we will take the appro- rector Kelly Hoffman says the goal is to get spreads. Suddenly, the product becomes a before the study commenced. He said in an The Informed-Choice study, however, priate action to protect the public health.” more companies involved in the move- big deal and it’s flying off the shelves.” e-mail the product is still legal today, but he shows how tenuous that reliance can be. Window on j u Baseball beat: j u Readers: Refs too Patriotic? j u Give Hawaii a chance Pitchers on the market Readers debated a defensive holding penalty against the Since unbeaten Brigham Paul White reports from Ravens on fourth down late in Monday night’s game that Young won the national title in the web: Hot baseball’s winter meetings in led to the Patriots’ winning score.