CRN Responds to Senate Subcommittee Hearing on Hidden Steroids

In response to Tuesday...s Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs hearing, 'Body Building Products and Hidden Steroids: Enforcement Barriers,' the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN; Washington, DC) released a statement detailing its position on products containing anabolic steroids and sold as dietary supplements.

CRN maintains its position that 'Rogue products that contain anabolic steroids are not dietary supplements, regardless of how the bad actors who manufacture and market these products might position them'”they are illegal, unapproved new drugs.'

CRN cites various federal regulatory powers granted to FDA (Rockville, MD) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; Alexandria, VA) to allow these agencies to actively regulate and enforce penalties upon companies marketing products containing unapproved substances.

For example, for a substance to enter the dietary supplement market, CRN cites the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which requires that new dietary ingredients (NDIs) submit to an NDI notification process before being allowed to enter the market. A product that doesn...t submit to this process would be considered adulterated.

Regarding FDA...s ability to control the flow of unapproved products into the consumer marketplace, CRN says, 'Enforcement tools available to FDA include seizure of products, and fines and criminal sanctions against companies that ignore the law'”FDA just needs the resources and the political will to use them.'

Much of the Senate hearing focused on evaluating the effectiveness of current law enforcement on all 'bad actors' in the dietary supplement industry.

The hearing was led by Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs chairman Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.