Sports Nutrition Or Steroids?
When Performance Supplements Draw Curiosity From Parcel Services
Aug 27, 2007
Inspectors at private and governmental mail services have increasingly become more interested in the contents of packages containing sports supplements.
Suspicion Surrounding Sports Nutrition
Technology has led to enormous growth of internet commerce. Athletes and those interested in improved sports performance often buy dietary supplements online. Illicit compounds such as anabolics are also available especially from international markets where manufacture is less restrictive. Problems occur when parcel services cannot determine, whether through legality or molecular structure, if a dietary supplement is a controlled substance.
Packages deemed suspicious are profiled where characteristics of the mailing are further investigated. For example, the appearance of the package may be further scrutinized or return addresses are run through a data base.
Sometimes private mail services begin targeting unsuspecting subjects for weeks by opening, examining and lab testing the contents of packages sent by vitamin suppliers. Although there is no problem with the majority of shipments, occasionally parcels are intercepted with delivery delayed resulting from curiosity.
Once a business or individual has been flagged in parcel logs, the probability of subsequent deliveries delayed and placed on mail watch increases. Below is part of an actual e-mail statement made by a representative from a private courier when questioned as to why several consecutive vitamin deliveries to a private citizen had been lost, destroyed, misdirected and/or opened by staff:
“...as far as accusation of unreasonable searches of packages. As a private company, anything given to us to ship can be inspected for what ever reason we want. We can inspect a package as many times as we want to inspect a package. ” - M.K.
Supplements And Ignorance Equal Danger
It is the responsibility of mail services to ensure the contents of shipments are safe, legal and pose no imminent danger to citizens. But concerns arise when law-abiding citizens who regularly order vitamins by mail, or supplement income as distributors become targeted. Many reputable fitness professionals generate income by such methods and delivery delays or no-shows become expensive with respect to lost business.
Misinformation, scandals and sensationalized media reports have created much of the confusion surrounding nutritional supplements. Strangely, many laypersons still believe that controlled substances such as anabolic steroids can easily be purchased from local vitamin stores. Accurate information is lacking in the department of sports nutrition and mistakes that result from ignorance become costly. For information to dispelling myths surrounding dietary supplements, sports nutrition and anabolics see Steroid Law.
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