In a time when resumption of sporting action is still debated due to the Covid situation, the news of athletes testing positive is a case for concern. As a subject close to heart and being part of the ecosystem as a nutrition company, it was tempting to wade into this subject. The rowers have been tested positive for Probenacid, which is on the banned list because it is a masking agent. So it begs the question if there is a case of passing the blame to some supplements/ brands they consumed or were there other intentions involved? (I don’t know which products they consumed or consume).
Hence the first thing, which needs to be curbed is the intentional use of banned substances by various stakeholders in the ecosystem. (And if it is intentional, then atleast someone out there will know and should take responsibility)
Now the role of nutrition companies in this – As far as I can say none of the mainstream reputed nutrition companies will intentionally want to promote or use a banned ingredient in any of their products. Still there could be possibilities because the R&D would have used an ingredient without knowing about this or there could be some contamination issues in the manufacturing set up. The only way to make sure that your product is clean is as follows –
1. Have a company wide appreciation of what clean sport means and the context of banned substances
2. Have full control over your supply chain including if possible production with strong adherence to quality
3. Have testing of your products/ batches done by accredited International labs or agencies like Informed Sports or BSCG.
Points 2 and 3 have cost implications and depends on the company and many a time will not want to do it or cut corners. Moreover, since there is a very miniscule population which needs products catering to point 3, they may not even opt for such a thing. Instead they may give an internal undertaking which the athlete or the support staff assesses and goes by. This of course could be dangerous if you do not know the company, its management and practices well.
Indian and Foreign Products – The other day in a post somebody made a very generic statement that all Indian nutrition products (example given was energy gels) contain banned substances. Probably the person did not know that the energy gels were in fact supposed to give energyJ Imported products can have the same issues as I have mentioned before, if they do not follow the 3 points I have made earlier. Further there is an additional threat in this since it passes many hands, and possibly can be altered by people enroute. There are many stories where adulterated products are being sold in certain places which includes fakes as well. So my preference would always be to trust a known local brand if available.
And finally just to put the record straight, WADA does not give certificates to brands stating they have no banned substances. They only give the list of banned items and the onus is on the athlete to makes sure he or she does not consume any of this intentionally or un-intentionally.
