Up to half of tested supplements contained banned substances
Lab analyses found anabolic agents or other prohibited substances in 14–50% of sampled sports supplement products.
What they studied
- Design
- Narrative review
- Scope
- Analytical studies that tested supplement products
- Context
- 60–80% of athletes report using supplements
- Focus
- Contamination, inadvertent doping and safe-use practices
What they found
- Between 14% and 50% of analysed supplement samples tested positive for anabolic agents or other prohibited substances.
- Risks include inadvertent doping, mislabelling, ingredients banned by sport bodies and health risks for some groups.
- The authors list four safe practices: follow the serving size, check ingredients against the prohibited list, choose third-party certified products and avoid stacking products with overlapping ingredients.
How strong is the evidence
Review
What this design cannot tell us:
- A narrative review, not a systematic one.
- Contamination rates vary widely depending on which products and markets were tested.
What it means for your training
- Buy third-party certified products, stick to the label dose and watch for overlapping ingredients.
- If you are tested in sport, check every product against the prohibited list before use.
Our summary of the published abstract. Read the original paper for full details.