Sport Supplements are to become illegal in the UK

First thing, if you enjoy your supplements, then act now. Go to  http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13372 and show your support. We need to reach 10,000 signatories pretty quick.

If on the other hand you don’t trust me and need further convincing then read on:

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in conjunction with a new European directive are clamping down on the sale of supplements, calling them unlicensed medicines.

They describe them as:

“Any substance or combination of substances presented as having properties for treating or preventing disease in human beings;

Any substance or combination of substances which may be used in or administered to human beings either with a view to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action, or to making a medical diagnosis.”

Read that second paragraph carefully and you can see that anything which potentially builds muscle or burns fat could one day be classed as a medicine. Already, a great number of highly effective supplements with a proven track record of results and safety are deemed to be medicinal products and effectively illegal.

They specifically state that:

“Products for persons wishing to lose weight (“slimming/dieting products”) would fall within the definition of a medicinal product if: (a) they make medicinal claims; (b) if they modify physiological functions by acting pharmacologically, immunologically or metabolically”

In other words if they work as they are supposed to, fat burners are classed as medicinal products.

Herbal Medicines

All products of herbal origins are on the radar. Any new herbal products introduced in the last 30 years are specifically exempt from the possibility of obtaining a license to be sold. There is the potential for the sale of some traditional herbal products providing a license is obtained for their sale but the costs of these and the dosages required for efficacy do not correspond to reality. A cost of £50,000 per license application, with most products being rejected if they are deemed to modify physiological function, or, if they are not at least 30 years old in their usage.

Incoherence in the legislation

We are waiting to establish from the MHRA why particular nutrients which function very similarly such as caffeine and synephrine, both of which originate from food, are treated differently with the latter banned and the former permitted.

Similarly, we are awaiting an answer on a number of other nutrients which we believe are to be found in the food supply and as such would not ordinarily come under the auspices of the MHRA, but instead, would be a matter for the Food Standards Agency or Trading Standards.

What we need to do

The following nutrients have all already been deemed illegal to sell. We have been served notice that failure to remove all products containing these will result in the closure of our website. We are undertaking a systematic inspection of each and every product in our warehouse and as and when we find items which are deemed non-compliant we will be forced to remove them from sale. This will have a catastrophic effect on our business with the spectre of redudancies, suppliers and advertisers losing our business, and customers losing the freedom to buy. In the current economic climate it seems insane they would attack an industry paying so much in tax but they are adopting a zero tolerance approach as their mantra both now and going forward.

• Yohimbe
• Yohimbine Hcl (most US fat burners)
• Sida Cordifolia Milk Thistle Coleus Forskolii/ Forskolin (Lean Xtreme)
• Carulluma Evodia (Evodiamine) (mainly US fat burners)
• Gugglesterones
• Tribulus
• Uva
• Ursi
• Valerian
• Hoodia
• White Willow
• Rauwolfia/Rauwolscine (Alphaburn, Alpha-T2).
• 1,3 Dimethylamylamine (Jack3d, Hemo Rage Black, Dexaprine)
• Synephrine
• Citrus Aurantium (Hyper FX, Maximize v2)
• Salix Alba
• GABA (HGH Pro)
• Melatonin (most sleep aids)
• DHEA and variations (several test boosters/PH’s)
• Tongkat Ali
• Horny Goat Weed
• Epimedium or Icariin (Activate Xtreme, Hemavol)
• Eurycoma Longifolia boswellia (X-Factor Advanced)
• Carbolin
• Gymnema Sylvestre
• Clary Sage
• Commiphora Mukul

Not just these but all variations of these ingredients have been made illegal to sell for all retailers. In addition, variations of these ingredients, many of which go under different nomenclature are all banned.

To use one example the ingredient cited above as 1,3 Dimethylamylamine, a popular Preworkout supplement ingredient with a body of evidence supporting its effects (see the website dmaaresearch.com for more info) was also cited as methylhexaneamine, Geranamine, and DMAA.

Of greater concern, re-read the paragraph posted earlier:

“Any substance or combination of substances which may be used in or administered to human beings either with a view to restoring, correcting or modifying physiological functions by exerting a pharmacological, immunological or metabolic action”

This paragraph should answer any and all questions regarding whether ingredient x,y, or z will eventually be targeted by the MHRA.

What can we do?

The supplement industry is not always known for coming together and presenting a unified front to combat regulation but make no mistake, this is an existential threat to the future of the United Kingdom’s fast developing sports nutrition industry, the jobs and money it creates for the economy, and the rights of citizens to self determination on how they live their lives. From a democratic standpoint, we believe the principle of democracy by consent is under attack here as this legislation has been trampled through with no consideration to the wishes of the majority of sports supplements consumers opposed to this, and yet who are expected to pay for the privilege of losing their rights, in the form of the taxation which funds the MHRA.

We have been told by no less than the head of the MHRA’s division responsible for borderline medicines, that the action is part of a drive against the industry. We have confirmed with some other retailers who have had products seized or been served warning letters and intelligence suggests this action will be stepped up now.

We will be trying to get a co-ordinated response from others in our industry to combat this action. Either we stand together and make a stand now or we will be picked off one by one until there is no-one left. Only a fool would dig their heads in the sand but that is already the reaction of some in the industry based on initial conversations who are hoping the spotlight will not burn so brightly on their activities. As a student of history, I believe the following quote from a German priest about the Nazis is appropriate.

“First they came for the communists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,

and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for me

and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

We firmly believe that it is critical that the industry pulls together to form an alliance to present our counter-arguments to the authorities. We need to provide evidence relating to the safety of our products when used as prescribed, and to argue that in a free society, it is an infringement of personal liberty as well as an abuse of power by unelected public servants that we are not allowed to make personal choices on how we look after our health.

How to help

We plan to raise an alliance of business interests and consumers to tackle this unfair, and incoherent legislation. As an initial plan of action we urge all people to sign the petition below:

Central Government

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/13372

We have a minimum aim of 10,000 signatures to reach. Ask whoever you buy supplements from to post this daily on their status update and to push via all available marketing channels. Sign it yourselves and ask all friends and family to do so likewise. This is one easy way we can make our voice heard.

Contact Your MP

The link to the page below provides a sample letter or email for you to send to your local mp. This was provided to us by the founder at Bodybuilding Warehouse and we thank him for his efforts to draw this to the attention of the wider public. Included below is the link to your local MP. The more of us who contact these the more effect it will have and when we serve a massive petition to them later in the year hopefully they will take notice.

http://www.predatornutrition.com/Supporting-Supplements

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

 

Contact the MHRA

In case anyone wishes to seek an independent view on the ingredients listed in this blog post, the officers at the MHRA responsible for classifying what is and is not a medicine are listed below. They will be able to confirm to any retailer or customer the accuracy of the information presented by us. As a personal request, we ask people to speak to the MHRA in a courteous manner as anything else will undermine our cause. Ranting against the injustice is absolutely NOT the way to proceed.

MHRA on Twitter – http://twitter.com/MHRAgovukpress

MHRA Email Address – http://www.mhra.gov.uk/Contactus/index.htm

Specifically, it is the borderline medicines department who are responsible for the supplements industry and determinining what is and is not a medicinal product

We will reiterate one last time that this action is one which targets the whole industry and the consumers who use these products, and only by combining forces can we hope to have any chance of overturning this regulation. We will work with manufacturers globally to have UK compliant products released but the action about to be launched against us in the UK has already occurred across several European countries so we absolutely must stand together in this or else divided we surely will fall.

 

Adapted from Predator Nutrition blog.