'Real Sports' takes a look at sports nutrition supplements

 

NEW YORK — HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" on Tuesday aired an expose criticizing the availability of adulterated sports nutrition supplements to the nation's military in a segement titled "In Harm's Way."

 

According to the synopsis of the episode, "Real Sports" reported that 70% of U.S. troops take some sort of supplement, "many of them workout supplements marketed with the military in mind." The problem explored by "Real Sports" correspondent Soledad O'Brien is the availability of what the segment defines as under-regulated workout supplements that are causing serious injuries to the liver, heart issues and even death. 

 

In response to the episode, the Council of Responsible Nutrition on Wednesday suggested that the segment wasn't fully balanced. 

 

"We share the concerns raised by HBO’s segment last night about stimulant ingredients like DMAA, and CRN has expressed support for FDA’s position that DMAA and similar ingredients are illegal because they lack adequate evidence of safety and present unreasonable health risks," said Steve Mister, SCRN president and CEO. "On the other hand, we are disappointed that HBO ignored our requests to provide perspective from the mainstream, responsible dietary supplement industry as we would have confirmed our position that the products the segment focused on are being illegally marketed as dietary supplements in violation of the requirements for new ingredients. Further, we would have provided accurate information and a more balanced perspective of the numerous provisions in the law, added with the passage of DSHEA and beyond, that have given FDA more authority than it previously had to remove unsafe products from the market and ample tools to enforce the law."

 

In the segment correspondent O'Brien compared the Food and Drug Administration's pursuit of makers of tainted supplements to a game of whack a mole, where as soon as the agency is able to ban one ingredient, another suspect ingredient becomes available in its place. "To that end, we are concerned that FDA has not always acted as swiftly as appropriate to remove from the market these kinds of questionable products, and we continue to urge for further resources, financial and otherwise, for FDA to more fully enforce the law," Mister said. "Critics of dietary supplement regulation tend to focus on pre-market approval as the only option, ignoring the fact that pre-market approval is not a full-proof method to safety, nor is it a viable option for the vast majority of products in our industry that don’t receive the same patent protection and financial incentives as pharmaceutical products. Our industry is open to dialoguing with those who are serious — and realistic — about finding ways to avoid the kinds of tragedies shown in this segment in the future.”