ADVISORY NOTE REGARDING
NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

From: Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport - 28 aug 2000

This Advisory Note is part of an ongoing series to inform Canadian athletes, coaches, medical and paramedical staff and sport governing bodies on the use of non-pharmaceutical products including herbal preparations and nutritional products.

As many of you are aware, the herbal and nutritional supplement industry is not subject to stringent regulatory requirements. It is therefore not possible for the CCES or any other organization to guarantee that all the ingredients have been listed on the packaging and/or whether the composition may vary during production from batch to batch, without notice.

It has recently been brought to the CCES's attention that there has been confusion regarding a product manufactured by Natural Balance which has been identified to contain the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned substance, ephedra (a stimulant). Natural Balance produces two products named Ultra Diet Pep one without ephedrine and one with ephedrine. The name, print size and style of the product name, Ultra Diet Pep are both identical as is the color of the label.

Manufacturers often wish to build brand recognition by using similar product names and style of packaging. However, the presence of two different products named Ultra Diet Pep with virtually identical packaging may cause confusion for those using the product(s). We therefore caution athletes who are subject to doping control to not use any products containing ephedra produced by Natural Balance or any other company.

Athletes should avoid all products listing ma huang, chinese ephedra, ma huang extract, ephedra, ephedra sinica, ephedra extract, ephedra herb powder, epitonin or ephedrine as ingredients. Any one of these ingredients listed on the label indicates the presence of ephedrine in the product.

Please remember that athletes always bear the ultimate responsibility for the products they ingest. Should you require further information regarding nutritional supplements or specific information related to this advisory note, please contact the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport at:

Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport
205-1600 James Naismith Drive
Gloucester, Ontario K1B 5N4
Tel.: (613) 748-5755
Toll-Free: 1 (800) 672-7775
Fax: (613) 748-5746
www.cces.ca