Operation Supplement Safety: A DOD Effort to Encourage Safe Supplement Use

The Military Health System (MHS) recognizes that some types of dietary supplements are risky and that between 10 and 20% of active duty service members (SM) self-report taking bodybuilding and weight loss supplements. These two categories of supplements are noted as concerns by the FDA, as they may be adulterated, tainted, or contain prescription drugs. The safety of and potential for adverse events when using such products cannot be predicted. To that end, Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS) was launched as a DOD initiative to educate SM, leaders, providers, military families, and retirees about dietary supplements.

The OPSS website (hprc-online.org/opss) provides multiple resources for all of DOD personnel, with regular evidence-based postings, a question and answer function, apps, and videos. In 2012 the need for an OPSS High-Risk Supplement List (HRSL) was identified and pilot testing of products with potentially problematic ingredients began. Products are selected for testing based on their association with adverse events, questions from the field, and other information from media. To date, ingredients detected through this pilot effort have included anabolic agents (methasterone, turinabol, methyltestosterone, and methylclostebol), stimulants (DMAA, synephrine, octopamine, amphetamine, 1, 3-dimethylbutylamine), prescription drugs (Modafinil, progesterone, triamterene), Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (Andarine®, Ostarine®), as well as delta-9-THC and strychnine. Such ingredients pose a public health risk and can compromise mission readiness The OPSS HRSL effort must partner with other federal and professional groups to identify and then eliminate problematic ingredients in supplements. The results of this effort must be communicated to the public.