Council For Responsible Nutrition Sets The Record Straight That Aanabolic Steroids Are Not Dietary Supplements

—DSHEA is the Appropriate Law for Supplement Products—

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 16, 2008 — In response to remarks made regarding dietary supplements and the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) during the January 15 Oversight & Government Reform Committee hearing on the “The Mitchell Report: The Illegal Use of Steroids in Major League Baseball”, the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), the leading trade association representing the dietary supplement industry, issued the following statement:

Statement by Steve Mister, President and CEO:

“We are disappointed that some in Major League Baseball are inappropriately trying to use dietary supplements as a scapegoat to deflect attention from the real problem of baseball players illegally using performance-enhancing substances to cheat the system. Anabolic steroids are not dietary supplements and dietary supplements are not anabolic steroids. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), it is illegal for supplements to contain drugs or undeclared substances and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has the authority to take adulterated products that ignore the law off the shelf. The law is not the problem. The dietary supplement industry is focused on health and wellness. DSHEA provides consumers with appropriate access to a wide variety of safe, legal and beneficial vitamins, minerals, botanicals, and sports nutrition products that are used by more than 150 million Americans annually, while affording the government the enforcement authority to protect consumers through reasonable regulation.”

###

The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), founded in 1973, is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association representing dietary supplement industry ingredient suppliers and manufacturers. CRN members adhere to a strong code of ethics and manufacture dietary supplements to high quality standards under good manufacturing practices.