PR Coverage - Supplements

Due to the advancements in media representation of professional sports, supplements are

becoming popular by raising the competitive edge with different strategies. Sports supplements
are categorized as supplements that are intended to improve athletic performance and expedite
recovery. During the competitive season, young athletes rarely meet their nutritional
requirements and therefore rely on supplements. The use of sports supplements is rapidly
increasing, possibly because of the increasing social acceptance of the consumption of them.
Athletes are gullible when it comes to supplements because there is little education on the
products. Most controversy about supplements is conversations about banned ingredients and
there is disapproval of supplements hiding banned ingredients.

Background Info on Athletes Views of the Importance of Supplements + Their Knowledge:

- Main results from an international study was to investigate the prevalence of the
use of sports supplements among young athletes:
- “The prevalence rate of the intake of sports supplements was 82.2%, with
the protein supplements being predominant (54.5%).”
- Coaches are the primary source of information on supplements.
- Enhancement of athletic performance was the main motivator to take
supplements.
- Athletes are unfamiliar with regulations on supplements.
- “Less than 40% of athletes had the knowledge about the proper and
intended use of protein, creatine, amino acids, beta alanine and glutamine,
while they had greater understanding about vitamins and minerals, sports
drinks and caffeine.”
- The majority of young athletes believe supplements can be attributed to
success.
- It seems like there is an increasing popularity and acceptance of sports
supplements but it is mainly because of the lack of education, people blindly
follow advice from coaches and the internet which can lead to ethical issues for
the industry.
- Social media is replacing advice from scientists. Heavy reliance on personal
anecdotes that could have occurred from misuse.

Main Reasons For People Taking Supplements:

- People take supplements because they believe they are more natural and safer
than pharmaceuticals. People don’t seem to know that this isn’t always true.
- They want to improve their athletic performance.
Social Media Influence + Approval on Supplements:
 - “Whey protein” was the most discussed fitness supplement on the web,
constituting 44,954 interactions and 1,206 shares, with a total of 7.1 million
people potentially reached by related content.
- The most positively rated products were “Branched Chain Amino Acids" (87%)
and “Whey protein” (81%)

Why There Is an Abundance of Banned Substances In Supplements in the US:

- The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, or DSHEA limits
government interference in the supplement market.
- The majority of new dietary supplement ingredients are introduced to the market
without any safety evaluation by the FDA because of “loopholes, vague language
in the law, and lack of industry compliance,”
- “The FDA currently has no systematic way of knowing what dietary supplements
are on the market, when new products are introduced, or what they contain,” and
that is true even if the product contains ingredients the FDA had previously acted
against.
- The FDA doesn’t have the funding to control supplements.
- Almost half of weight loss supplements that were tested by a physician at
Cambridge Health Alliance included at least one prohibited stimulant. (He tested
17 US sold supplements).
- Some companies don’t know that what they are selling isn’t pure. Some
manufacturers replace expensive ingredients with cheaper ones when making the
raw ingredients. This is called “economic adulteration”
- Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized the Way We Think About Food - A
book the Washington Post referenced.
- FDAs list of dietary supplements that we should watch out for
- Athletes are fooled by “FDA Approved” and “WADA Approved” labels. Neither
WADA nor FDA approve, endorse, or recommend any dietary supplement.
- 11.8% of athletes under 18 said they would take banned substances if they knew
they weren't going to be tested.

How To Get Clean Sport Certifications:

NSF Certified For Sport:

- The Certified for Sport® certification
- the only independent third-party certification program recognized by the United
States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
- What the certification means:
- Product doesn’t contain any of the 280 ingredients banned by major athletic
organizations.
- Contents of the supplement match the label.
 - No unsafe levels of contaminants.
- The product is manufactured at a facility that is GMP registered and audited twice
annually for quality and safety by NSF International.
- NSF International Product Certification Steps | Certified for Sport®
- Step One: GMP Registration
- Step Two: Contents Tested and Certified Certification
- Step Three: Certified for Sport® Certification
- NSF Certification: $1,500-$2,500, depending on the number and types of products to be
approved.
Informed Sport Certified
- Certification program for sports supplements that tests for more than 250 banned
substances.
- Process:
- Step One: Product and Manufacturing Review
- Step Two: Pre certification and Sample Testing
- Step Three: Product Certification, Logo Use and Web Listing
- Step Four: Post Certification Requirements and Testing
- Every Batch Testing: Every lot number of a certified product is tested before being sold,
along with blind quarterly testing.
- Evolved Testing: Requires the company to have their own manufacturing facility. The
facility is audited by Informed Sport and every batch of raw material is tested.
- Informed Sport Supplement Certification Process

NSF tests for more banned substances and keeps a batch of testing supplements for years to cross
reference if a drug test is positive. But Informed Sport has a less extensive testing process. There
are also other variations of Informed Sport, including: Informed Choice, Protein, Ingredient and
Manufacturer. All certifications require you to contact the organization for a quote.

Informed Sport Choice Protein Ingredient Manufacturer

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Sources:
Prevalence, knowledge and attitudes towards using sports supplements among young athletes |
Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition | Full Text
Prohibited, unlisted, even dangerous ingredients turn up in dietary supplements - The
Washington Post
Supplement use in sport: is there a potentially dangerous incongruence between rationale and
practice?
https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/03/17/athletes-face-extra-risks-
when-taking-dietary-supplements
The market of sport supplement in the digital era: A netnographic analysis of perceived risks,
side-effects and other safety issues - ScienceDirect
Supplement Education | Informed Sport
Do you know what 3rd party testing is in supplements? NSF V. Informed Sport - Carolina Sports
Clinic
Data from 2019 Survey of 348 athletes, 15–18 year olds from 4 countries competing in 18 sports
at the international level: next page.
*** This data is taken from German, Croatian, Japanese and Serbian international level young
athletes.