The FDA served iForce Nutrition and owner Dave Nelson with a search warrant during the course of the 2009 IFBB Olympia Expo. The search warrant was executed in the days following the FDA raid of Bodybuilding.com. Four iForce Nutrition products were listed as “undercover purchases” made at Bodybuilding.com. Both the iForce Nutrition search warrant and the Bodybuilding.com search warrant alleged that these products contain anabolic steroids, unapproved new drugs, and/or misbranded drugs: 1,4 AD Bold 200 (androstenedione), 17a PheraFLEX (Madol), Dymethazine (Superdrol) and Methadrol (Superdrol).
The FDA media strategy forced several dietary supplement companies and their owners into the spotlight and made them readily accessible to both federal agents and media representatives at the 2009 Olympia Expo.
DEA and FDA agents were seen circulating the Olympia Expo purportedly serving search warrants on at least two dietary supplement companies according to sources who spoke to the agent(s).
The federal government has a history of using major bodybuilding and supplement expos to gain publicity for their steroid witch-hunts. The presence of federal agents at a major bodybuilding and supplement expo was reminiscent of the 2004 IFBB Arnold Classic Expo during which several IFBB pro bodybuilders were served subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury investigating steroid distribution.
Craig Titus, Nasser El Sonbaty and Flex Wheeler were among the bodybuilders subpoenaed in 2004 according to Shawn Ray in a story reprinted on the website GetBig.com. Professional bodybuilding was linked to the BALCO scandal at the time with the presence of Victor Conte, who was at the Expo to promote his supplement products, and Milos Sarcev, who had trained BALCO athletes.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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