SupplySide

The Benninger Blog

Jon Benninger is the vice president of business development for the Health & Nutrition Network at VIRGO. He works on new products, international efforts, industry outreach and advocacy, content development, partnerships and collaborations, and strategic planning. Jon volunteers for many industry associations, committees and initiatives, is a frequent speaker and moderator at industry events, and assists VIRGO clients with solutions and strategies.. He joined VIRGO in 1995 and has served as editor, publisher, and group publisher prior to his current position. He earned a degree in journalism at Arizona State University.

Witness list for Senate steroid hearing

September 28, 2009 By Comments

Posted in Blog, Topics, Adulteration, Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Sports Nutrition, Government

Tomorrow's hearing "Body Building Products and Hidden Steroids: Enforcement Barriers" in the Senate Judiciary Committee will include testimony from FDA, the Natural Products Association (NPA), U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the law firm Covington & Burling. The hearing is available as a webcast (see link below), and I fully expect DSHEA to come under attack, at least from USADA CEO Travis Tygart. He and USADA have a long history of saying that supplements are unregulated, and also blaming DSHEA for the presence of steroids in sports. The USADA Global DRO website still says that supplements, herbs and homeopathics are "unregulated." And in a July article, Tygart said that "the current regulatory system for dietary supplements allows these unscrupulous steroid salesmen to endanger the health of our youth." Clearly Mr. Tygart either does not know what he is talking about, or he has decided that his mission to destroy DSHEA is more important than the truth. In fact, any product containing steroids is not a supplement, is and always has been illegal, and is not protected by DSHEA. I can't wait to see what imaginary facts Mr. Tygart provides under oath. The hearing begins at 2:30pm eastern time.

Link to Hearing info page and webcast

Link to USADA Global DRO FAQ page asserting supplements are not regulated

Link to news story in which USADA CEO Travis Tygart blames DSHEA for steroids