Over one-third of sports supplements like protein powders, fat burners, muscle builders and Testosterone boosters contain substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to a new report released Wednesday by Australia’s anti- doping organization – Sport Integrity Australia (SIA).

“An athlete purchasing an uncertified product online has a one-in-three chance that the product contains a WADA banned substance,” the report states. “This survey shows that the risk of using a non-certified sports supplement product remains high.”

The study funded by SIA and conducted by Human and Supplements Testing Australia, analyzed 200 nutritional sport products purchased online, finding 35% contained banned substances (including Ostarine, Testosterone, Boldione, DHEA, Phenethylamine and even the poison Strychnine) that would likely result in an athlete returning a positive anti-doping result if tested.

Products marketed as Fat Burner (49%), Muscle Builder (53%) and Pre-Workout (34%) were most likely to contain banned substances.

More disturbing was the discovery that 57% of the supplements containing WADA banned substances did not disclosed the substances as an ingredient on the label or packaging (i.e. off-label).

Co-author of the study and SIA Chief Science Officer Dr Naomi Speers issued a warning to athletes, “These types of products are common and widely available, which might give athletes the false impression that they’re safe to use. But due to issues like cross-contamination during manufacturing or undeclared [off-label] ingredients, the risk of unintentional doping is high.”

Under WADA’s Strict Liability policy athletes are accountable for any prohibited substance found in their body, regardless of how or why the substance entered their system, even if an athlete is unaware of what they are taking.

Photo Credit: SIA/HSTA/Drug Testing and Analysis (2025)

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