INFORMED SPORT NEWS
Why supplement due diligence matters in drug-tested sport
9 July 2026
Informed Sport recently joined Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA) for an educational webinar focused on supplement risk, athlete due diligence and the role of third-party certification in sport. Hosted by SDA and led by Terence O’Rorke, Senior Business Development Manager for Informed Sport across Europe and Asia Pacific, the session explored why supplement decision-making remains an important part of athlete welfare and anti-doping risk management.
For athletes competing under anti-doping rules, supplement use cannot be treated as a casual choice. Under the principle of strict liability, athletes are responsible for anything they consume, which makes due diligence essential when selecting sports nutrition products.
That risk remains real. Supplement contamination can occur through raw materials, cross-contamination during manufacturing, or deliberate adulteration in parts of the market. Even when athletes are well supported, the consequences of an inadvertent anti-doping violation can be significant. This is why independent certification plays such an important role. Informed Sport certification is built around two core pillars of quality assurance: a robust assessment of how a product is manufactured, and mandatory pre-release testing of every batch of each certified product. This helps ensure that certified products are tested before they reach athletes, practitioners and consumers.
The webinar also highlighted the practical steps athletes and support teams can take when using supplements. This includes checking that a product is listed on the Informed Sport website, cross-referencing the batch number, and keeping evidence of those checks as part of responsible supplement use. For sports dietitians and performance practitioners, this education is especially important. Practitioners are often the people helping athletes understand risk, interpret certification marks and make informed choices about the products they use.
As supplement use continues across all levels of sport, ongoing education remains essential. Informed Sport is committed to working with organisations such as SDA to support safer supplement choices through independent testing, transparent certification and practical education for the people guiding athletes every day.
