Supplements Contain Illegal Steroids

FDA warns several companies to stop selling dietary supplements containing illegal steroids

This spring, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned several supplement manufacturers and distributors that their products, which contain synthetic steroids, are classified as unapproved drugs and cannot be sold legally.

Anabolic steroids have been illegal for sale without a legitimate prescription since 1990. Legislation outlawing steroid precursors, previously sold in dietary supplements, went into effect January 2005.

The FDA noted in a press release that the products, marketed as dietary supplements and promoted for building muscle and increasing strength, may cause serious long-term health problems. The companies were sent letters warning them to discontinue selling the products or face possible criminal charges and regulatory action.

The two products are:

• Anabolic Xtreme Superdrol, manufactured for Anabolic Resources LLC of gilbert, Ariz., and distributed by Supplements to go of Cincinnati; and

• Methyl 1-P, manufactured for Legal Gear of Brighton, Mich., and distributed by Affordable Supplements of Wichita, Kan.

Anyone who purchased these products is advised to immediately stop taking them and return them to their place of purchase.

“FDA takes its responsibility to protect Americans from dangerous unapproved drugs seriously,” said Margaret Glavin, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “Today’s action is indicative of our resolve.”

In an article written this spring after the FDA’s press release, The Washington Post noted that the warning letters represented the FDA’s first public action on steroids in supplements since the newspaper had reported last fall that the products contained steroids.

A story published in The Washington Post last October “uncovered five designer steroids in five readily available dietary supplements marketed by four companies.” A subsequent story in the newspaper uncovered another steroid, produced by a fifth company, in yet another product.

The more recent Washington Post article also pointed out that it had retained Dr. Don Catlin of the UCLA Analytical Laboratory to analyze Superdrol, Methyl 1-P and four additional products for the newspaper last summer.

The lab found that all of the products contained steroids. Only two of the five companies are known to have received letters from the FDA, leading to some speculation that the FDA investigation has not concluded. The FDA declined comment.

The fact that supplements purchased easily (over-the-counter or over-the-Internet) have been found to contain steroids is yet another reminder that those who take supplements do so at their own risk.

“The fact remains that supplements are largely unregulated, and athletes who use them risk testing positive for a banned substance,” said Andrea Wickerham, legal relations and policy director for Drug Free Sport. “The risks associated with taking any supplement have been well-publicized for several years now,” Wickerham said.

“Athletes are responsible for knowing what they are taking. Athletes contemplating taking supplements are urged to discuss the matter with their athletic trainer or team physician before taking anything.”