NSF Banned Supplements Program Gains MLB OK

NSF Banned Supplements Program Gains MLB OK

ANN ARBOR, Mich.Professional athletes appear to have a new supportsystem in the debut of the Banned Substances Certification Program from NSFInternational, designed to ensure dietary supplements used by athletes will notresult in a positive test for any banned substances. While the National FootballLeague (NFL) and NFL Players Association (NFLPA) previously developed theNFL/NFLPA Supplement Certification Program, Major League Baseball (MLB) and theMajor League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) were the first groups toendorse the new program.

This supplement certification program is designed to create a levelplaying field for all those professional, amateur and youth athletes who arededicated to fair play in sports, said Kathleen Jordan, MS, RD, generalmanager, NSF Dietary Supplement Certification Program. The athletic communityhas expressed concerns that many supplements may contain undeclared ingredientsthat could lead to positive testing for banned substances. Our certificationprogram directly addresses these concerns and provides a solution.

Jordan added that the NSF Athletic Banned Substances Certification Programwill build on the groundwork of the previous NFL program; however, the group plans to expand the parameters to span the internationalsports community for both professional and amateur athletes.

Sports Illustrated reported on a March 6 press conference in which MLBmanagement lawyer Frank Coonelly said the organization is pleased that NSF willbe doing audits and testing to ensure the dietary supplements are clean.Certified supplements can be purchased by MLB teams to resell to players. NSFcurrently has three companies undergoing the new programs certificationprocess.

Products that pass the audit processincluding product testing for bannedsubstances and label content confirmation, formulation and label review, andproduction facility inspectionswill be able to carry the NSF Certified forSport mark on the product label. Any manufacturer, finished product companyor ingredient supplier that currently manufactures a steroid or steroidprecursor or any other substance on the World Anti-Doping Association,NFL/NFLPA, and MLB/MLBPA prohibitive substances lists are excluded fromparticipating in the program.