RE: THE USE OF SPORTS NUTRITION FOR HUMAN PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT: POTENTIAL IMPACT ON THE 2012 OLYMPICS

  The science select committee have heard opinions from a variety of issues relating to sports nutrition and exercise performance, however many key issues have not been accurately reported or have been totally overlooked.

  A great deal of emphasis has been placed on the work of Hans Geyer, relating to the supposed incidence of contamination in UK sports supplements. He reported that close to 20% of dietary supplements (not just sports supplements) were contaminated with anabolic steroids. Furthermore he also proposed that 5% of dietary supplements contained prohormones that would result in athletes testing positive for nandrolone.

  Although the study of Geyer et al 2004 was published in 2004 it actually related to supplements that were bought and analysed for steroid contaminants between 2000 and 2001. At this time the inclusion of prohormones in supplements was legal both in the UK and the US and there was potential for cross contamination of dietary supplements.

  Legislative changes removed prohormones from the dietary supplement market first in the UK on 1 January 2004 and on 1 January 2005 in the US. This greatly reduced the risk of inadvertent contamination of dietary supplements with prohormones. Furthermore the number of companies employing good manufacturing practices (which further reduces the risk of inadvertent supplement contamination) has greatly increased.

  For these reasons the work of Geyer et al 2004 does not now reflect the UK industry. This is highlighted by the work of the worlds leading WADA accredited labs HFL, based in Newmarket UK.

  Between 2002 and 2006 HFL have performed more than 1,500 IS017025 (and UKAS approved) tests on sports supplements to assess possible contamination with a range of stimulants and steroids that are banned under WADA rules, including 19-Nor, the only prohormone found to convert into Nandrolone. HFL found less than 1% of supplements were found to contain any traces of contamination, which is 20 times lower than reported by Geyer in 2004. Furthermore, the products that tested positive were not released onto the market, as was the purpose of the test.

  It is clear to say that if UK athletes choose UK sports nutrition brands from reputable companies that pre-screen their products with HFL, you will find that the actual level of contamination found in these products is 0%. The list of products that I am currently aware of that test each and every batch are Maximuscle, EAS and Lucozade. Clearly there are major inconsistencies with the work of Geyer and the actual level of contamination in UK supplements.

  Assessment of the number of athletes who drug test positive for nandrolone provides another good way to assess the level of contamination in UK sports nutrition products. Assessment of dietary practices by athletes show that 80% of athletes will take dietary supplements such as carbohydrate electrolyte drinks, multivitamins or recovery products. Based on the work of Geyer it would be anticipated that around 4% of UK athletes would have tested positive for nandrolone between 2000 and 2001. However, UK Sport publishes the results of WADA tests on its website and these include the compound or compounds that resulted in the positive test. For the period 2000 to 2001 around 0.1% of drug tests were positive for nandrolone, even taking into account the timing of urine sampling relative to supplement ingestion this result is not consistent with the figures reported by Geyer et al 2004.

  This finding is even more remarkable when considering that some athletes deliberately try to cheat by taking prohormone products during training or pre-event preparation. Finally it is important to recognise that athletes use more than one product eg creatine, multivitamins, carbohydrate electrolyte drinks, supposedly producing an additive risk of athletes testing positive for nandrolone, Clearly there is a disparity between the reported incidence and severity of supplement contamination and the actual level of contamination and one can only conclude that Geyer's results are not an accurate reflection of contamination of UK supplements. Unfortunately, this issue has not been addressed or recognised by the people invited to provide evidence and although this information has been available to them, it is still ignored in favour of an outdated study which clearly contains many flaws.

  As someone clearly passionate about sport, if we are to achieve the level of success we desire in the 2012 Olympics, the people or bodies involved in helping athletes achieve their full potential, must be aware of the benefits of sports nutrition and the brands which are safe to use and are supported and backed by credible peer reviewed science.

December 2006