The Netherlands Security System Nutritional Supplements Elite Sports (NZVT)

Introduction

Nutritional supplements are often blamed for being the source of an Adverse Analytical Finding in doping control. Indeed, several studies have shown that contaminations may occur, even in products where one would not reasonably expect this (Geyer et al., 2004; De Hon & Coumans, 2006). As a result, many sport organisations, such as the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency, have advised to use extreme caution regarding supplement use. This has left many good willing athletes with an insecure feeling about the use of their supplements, even when (sports) dieticians deem supplementation adventageous to the health and/or performance level of these athletes. At the same time many good willing producers of nutritional supplements suffer from the malpractice conducted by some of their colleagues.

In the Netherlands, the issue of contaminated supplements was proven by a study performed in 2001 (Schilt et al., 2002). It was the impetus of a joined effort by several partners to give Dutch athletes the possibility to use nutritional supplements if these are deemed appropriate, giving the athletes maximised security to use a supplement that does not contain doping products. The project is called “The Netherlands Security System Nutritional Supplements Elite Sports”, or (after its Dutch acronym) “NZVT”.

Aims

The NZVT has been set up to give athletes as much certainty as possible that the supplements they wish to take do not contain non-labeled doping substances.

Partners

The NZVT is a a joined effort by the Netherlands Olympic Committee * Netherlands Sports Confederation (NOC*NSF), the trade organisation for supplements producers and providers in the Netherlands (NPN), and Anti-Doping Authority Netherlands (Dopingautoriteit), in close cooperation with the NOC*NSF Athletes Commission, the Institute of Food Safety of Wageningen University and Research Centre (RIKILT), and the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports (VWS).

Principles

The NZVT has been set up because many (elite) athletes supplement their diet. There is consensus amongst sports nutritionists and other dietary experts that the use of nutritional supplements is only worthwile if the regular diet is at its optimum already, keeping in mind the needs of the individual person. For athletes, this means that both their basic and their sports specific dietary needs are at their optimium already.

All athletes are, and remain, strictly liable for all substances in their bodies. The NZVT approach and its accompanied database are informational services to athletes to help them find nutritional supplements with the lowest possible risk of contaminations with doping substances that are prohibited in organised sport. The NZVT-partners are not responsible for the products that are listed in the NZVT-database.

The key role in the NZVT-system is played by the manufacturers of nutritional supplements, who are following specific guidelines to rule out contamination with doping substances and who are willing to submit their products to specific laboratory testing. In its core, the NZVT-system is a self regulated system to minimize the risk of inadvertent doping use through nutritional supplements.

Anti-doping efforts in the area of nutritional supplements are only relevant to the specific batch that is subjected for testing. Various experiences have shown that a new batch of the same product may yield different results in laboratory tests. Therefore, the NZVT database of products that have been tested and approved only mentions specific product-batch combinations.

NZVT database

Please click here to see an overview of tested product-batch combinations. Since the system has been set up for Dutch athletes, the database and its disclaimer are only available in the Dutch language. If more English information is desired, you can contact one of the NZVT-partners (see internet sites below) or mail to dopingvragen@dopingautoriteit.nl.

Availability of NZVT-products

The database lists the contact details of the manufacturers, who might be able to assist in finding the locations where NZVT-products are sold. Another possibility is to contact the company Sportvitamines 4U (telephone +31-70-301 0658; e-mail info@sportvitamines.nu) that has many product-batch combinations in stock.

Other approaches

There are numerous approaches in the world to inform athletes on the doping risks of nutritional supplements. The NZVT-partners are in contact with most of these approaches and/or testing systems. These systems do not usually incorporate all of the aspects of the NZVT-system. The results of such testing systems are not easily transferable to the NZVT-situation.

The NZVT has close ties with the UK-based “Informed Sport” label launched by HFL Sport Science Ltd. Even though differences exist in the two approaches, both organisations mutually recognize each others websites and determination of doping risks of nutritional supplements. The product-batch combinations on both websites give similar securities to athletes. See www.informed-sport.com for more information on this particular system.

Internet sites

NZVT: www.dopingautoriteit.nl/NZVT
NOC*NSF:  www.nocnsf.nl  
NPN: www.npninfo.nl
Anti-Doping Authority the Netherlands: www.dopingautoriteit.nl

NOC*NSF – Athletes Commission: www.nocnsf.nl/atletencommissie

RIKILT: www.rikilt.wur.nl

Ministry of VWS: www.rijksoverheid.nl

References

Schilt et al. “Onderzoek naar het voorkomen van dopinggeduide stoffen in voedingsmiddelen in de aanloop naar de Olympische Winterspelen in Salt Lake City”. [research into the prevention of doping in the nutrition of athletes preparing for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City] TNO Nutrition and Food Research (TNO-voeding) and the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), the Netherlands, 2002.

Geyer et al. Analysis of non-hormonal nutritional supplements for anabolic-androgenic steroids - results of an international study. Int J Sports Med 25(2): 124-9, 2004.

De Hon & Coumans. The continuing story of nutritional supplements and doping infractions. Br J Sports Med 41(11): 800-5, 2007.