Posted on 21st Sep 2009 @ 6:45 PM

Cheapdiscountsupplements.com gives you insights into why you should stick with EU based Supplement brands and avoid US importers.

UK athletes are strongly advised to be extremely cautious about the use of none EU based supplements. No guarantee can be given that any particular supplement, including vitamins and minerals, ergogenic aids, and herbal remedies, is free from prohibited substances as these products are not licensed and are not subject to the same strict manufacturing and labelling requirements as licensed medicines. Anti-doping rules are based on the principle of strict liability and, therefore, supplements are taken at an athlete's risk and personal responsibility.

Go supplements.com is pro active in promoting drug free supplements and over the last few years we have seen a number of findings for substances such as Nandrolone, which have been traced to poorly labelled or contaminated supplements.

In February 2003, UK Sport published its Nandrolone Progress Report. It highlighted the findings of a major IOC study conducted in Cologne in 2002 which showed 94 out of 634 samples from non-hormonal dietary supplements contained prohibited anabolic-androgenic steroids not listed on the label most o which where US based. First published in May 2003 and subsequently updated in April 2004, April 2007 and July 2008, UK Sport's advisory statement to UK athletes on the use of supplements warns them to be "extremely cautious" about their use. The statement draws particular attention to the difference between a medicine and a supplement, with licensed medicines being labelled with a product license number which will not be found on a supplement label. Supplements/IOC Study In May 2003, the International Olympic Committee published the results of a study which found that 15% of the 634 supplements it tested contained banned substances, including nandrolone. Listed on a country-by-country basis, the Netherlands saw the highest levels of positive products with just over one in four of the tested substances containing a banned substance from products imported or supplied from the US.

The UK had the third highest rate, with 18.9% providing a positive result from products imported or supplied from the US.

Drug testing in sport is becoming tighter especially within sports where supplements are seen to be a form of muscle repair or muscle enhancement for strength, endurance, or even just for the prevention of lactic acid build up seen in cyclists.  It is common for a lot of athletes to use the likes of amino acid products or recovery drinks to speed up the recovery process however recovery drinks can have performance enhancement ingredients that may well fail you a drug test.  It is advised that if you are using any supplement brand not based or manufactured under EU policies Go-Supplements strongly advises that you contact the manufacturer to get a clear understanding of the contents. 

The EU has very strict guidelines on what should and should not be classed as a supplement, the USA has a much less strict policy and what is legal in the US may not be legal in the EU, that is why if a product is being sold by a manufacturer within the EU then it will have had to abide by all relevant EU polices prior to going on sale.  

Most if not all sport supplement manufacturers find it impossible to keep up with the changes made by the FDA and MHRA throughout different European countries that change the class regulations on what appears to be a daily basis.

If cheap discount supplements imports any product we ensure that the correct paper work is accompanied with the product at the time of import.  It is impossible to predict what the next product ingredient will become black listed by the medical health authorities, or what country it will be banned in next.

Go supplements.com monitors manufacturing policies/changes of every brand that we stock. We also monitor regulation changes in professional sport to ensure that the products we offer for sale are complaint to EU regulations at the time of sale. 

In an ideal world the MHRA would like all sport supplements to be owned or manufactured by pharmaceutical companies, this way they could control what ingredients the company inserts and what level.

If you import from the US, you are rolling the dice with your profession if drug testing applies to it.

Supplement usages is a way of life for everyone professional athletes and consumers who trains hard daily, we all have our goals and dietary tribulations to overcome that are linked to the use of supplements in some way.   But is a much safer bet to choose and buy your products from EU based brands and retailers when buying your supplements online.