Dietary supplements are food products intended to supplement the regular diet. They are concentrated sources of nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, or other substances with a nutritional or physiological effect, either alone or in combination.
They are placed on the market in dose forms, such as capsules, lozenges, tablets and similar forms, sachets of powder, ampoules of liquid, dropper bottles, and other similar forms of liquids and powders intended to be taken in small, measured quantities.
The World Anti-Doping Code defines 11 Anti-Doping Rule Violations. Violations 2.1–2.4 apply exclusively to athletes, while violations 2.5–2.11 apply both to athletes and to athlete support personnel.
Around 80% of all Anti-Doping Rule Violations in global sport relate to Article 2.1 of the Code: the presence of a prohibited substance or its metabolites or markers in an athlete’s sample.
Article 2 of the Code emphasizes that athletes are personally responsible for ensuring that no prohibited substance enters their body and that they do not use prohibited substances, even when exposure is unintentional.
Available data show that 6–9% of reported doping cases are linked to the use of contaminated supplements. Research indicates that 14–50% of analysed dietary supplements may contain anabolic agents, stimulants, or other prohibited substances. Despite this, supplement use among athletes remains high, with 60–80% of athletes reporting that they currently use supplements or have used them in the past.
Supplements, or dietary supplements, in the Republic of Serbia are subject to registration.
The Rulebook on Dietary Supplements sets out the requirements that must be met for a dietary supplement to be placed on the market. During this process, the manufacturer or importer of the supplement is required to submit the necessary documentation for registration.
A certificate confirming the health safety of a dietary product is issued by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, based on documentation confirming that the dietary supplement is safe for use and is legally available on the market in the Republic of Serbia.
An expert opinion and analytical report of a health institution on the health safety of a dietary product may be issued by the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut”, the Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, the Institute of Public Health Niš, the Institute of Public Health Kragujevac, the City Institute of Public Health Belgrade, or the Institute of Hygiene of the Military Medical Academy in Belgrade.
All supplements registered in the Republic of Serbia have a certificate issued by the Ministry of Health and are entered into the database maintained by the Ministry of Health.
It should be noted that supplements may be found on the market, especially online, which have not undergone the legally required product registration procedure.
For this reason, purchasing supplements that have not undergone this procedure represents a significant risk, both to health and in terms of possible Anti-Doping Rule Violations.
When issuing opinions on supplements, the Anti-Doping Agency considers the potential risk from the perspective of a positive doping test result, and not from the perspective of the health safety of the supplement. Even supplements that are not harmful to health may still carry a risk of causing a positive doping test result.
The causes of supplement contamination with prohibited substances may be intentional or unintentional. Unlike medicines, supplements are not subject to strictly controlled manufacturing or quality control, and this is the case worldwide.
It is well known that supplements may be contaminated with prohormones, hormones, stimulants, or other prohibited substances. This can occur during the manufacturing process, particularly when adequate quality conditions are not in place and different products come into contact with one another. If manufacturing equipment is not properly cleaned, contamination may occur with prohibited substances that previously passed through the same equipment.
In most cases, such contamination is accidental or unintentional, but there are also cases of intentional contamination, for example with anabolic steroids, in order to enhance the effects of the supplement.
Available data indicate that 60–80% of athletes use supplements, and that 14–50% of supplements may contain prohibited substances. This clearly shows that there is a significant risk of accidental or unintentional doping due to supplement use.
Through aggressive marketing campaigns and numerous retail outlets, supplement sellers make their products attractive and easily accessible to athletes who often know nothing about the origin or purity of the ingredients.
Therefore, if an athlete decides to accept the risk because they wish to benefit from supplementation, it is recommended that they use products from large and reputable companies, which are likely to be the safest choice. Well-known brands of vitamins, minerals, and other common supplements produced by large companies are usually manufactured according to high standards and should be safer from an anti-doping perspective.
Contamination is more often a problem with some smaller companies, especially those targeting the recreational and bodybuilding markets. Companies that do not sell steroids or prohormones are less likely to have products contaminated with these substances.
Athletes must be particularly cautious when using supplements that claim to “increase muscle mass” or are marketed as “fat burners”.
Under the principle of Strict Liability, as defined by the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes are responsible for everything they ingest or use.
Unfortunately, the current rules offer limited protection to athletes even in cases of supplement contamination. According to the position of the World Anti-Doping Agency, supplementation is entirely the athlete’s choice and the athlete must bear responsibility for that choice.
Since athletes will always be responsible for everything that enters their body, including prohibited substances that are not declared on the product label, athletes are advised not to use a supplement if there is any doubt about its composition.
One of the continuous education programmes implemented by the Anti-Doping Agency of the Republic of Serbia is the Request for an Opinion on the Composition of Supplements, designed to assist athletes.
Acting upon athletes’ requests for an opinion on the composition of supplements, ADAS issues a report that refers exclusively to the potential presence of prohibited doping substances in the declared composition of the supplement, based on the information available on the websites of the manufacturer or distributor, as submitted by the athlete in the request.
Given that supplements may contain substances that are not declared on the label, including contaminants, this opinion does not release the athlete from responsibility for a possible Anti-Doping Rule Violation. The opinion refers only to the declared composition of the listed supplements, which may not necessarily be accurate, and is provided in the form of advice.
Unfortunately, there is no 100% certainty that a supplement does not contain doping substances.
Even certificates issued for specific supplements apply only to the exact batch of the supplement tested, and not to all supplements sold under the same name. In addition, laboratory analysis does not cover all substances on the Prohibited List, but only those substances most commonly found in supplements contaminated with doping substances.
The World Anti-Doping Agency also does not consider such certificates to be an absolute guarantee.
- Before taking supplements, consider whether a properly balanced diet can meet your needs.
- Speak to nutrition and supplementation experts for dietary advice. Consider whether significant changes to your diet should be made first.
- If it is necessary to use a supplement, first research the supplement you plan to take, including its label, ingredients, dosage, and manufacturer.
- Use a tested batch of the product whenever possible.
In the world, there are several certified programmes and laboratories that independently test supplements for the presence of substances prohibited in sport. Before using a supplement, athletes are advised to check whether the specific product has undergone this type of testing.
Please visit the official websites of these programmes and check whether the supplement you plan to use is listed in their databases of tested products:
https://sport.wetestyoutrust.com
http://koelnerliste.com
https://www.nsfsport.com/ - Keep the original packaging of the supplement and, if possible, a small amount of the product.*
* In situations where an athlete suspects or claims that an adverse analytical finding — a positive test for prohibited doping substances — resulted from the use of a potentially contaminated supplement, ADAS will advise the athlete to contact a WADA-accredited laboratory for analysis of the contaminated product. - If you have received medical advice to take supplements, keep a record of it.
- Avoid purchasing supplements online whenever possible.
- Keep the receipt, or other proof of purchase of the product.
- Complete the Request for an Opinion on a Supplement on the ADAS platform.
- Declare all supplements you have used in the previous 7 days on the doping control form.
- Food Safety Law (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, Nos. 41/2009 and 17/2019) Rulebook on Dietary Supplements (“Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, No. 45 of 7 April 2022, No. 20 of 10 March 2023, and No. 73 of 30 August 2024)
- World Anti-Doping Agency. World Anti-Doping Code. 2021. Available online: https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/2021_wada_code.pdf
- Lauritzen, Fredrik. “Dietary supplements as a major cause of anti-doping rule violations.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 4 (2022): 868228.
- Backhouse, Susan H. “No guarantees! Supporting athletes to reduce the risk of unintentional doping from supplement use.” Sports Science Exchange 37, no. 247 (2024): 1–6.
- Jagim, Andrew R., Patrick S. Harty, Jacob L. Erickson, et al. “Prevalence of adulteration in dietary supplements and recommendations for safe supplement practices in sport.” Frontiers in Sports and Active Living 5 (2023): 1239121.
