Dietary supplements and drug testing
— published: 03-06-2012
HPRC has received a number of questions about whether dietary supplements—especially those used for bodybuilding and weight loss—could result in a positive result on military drug tests.
Military drug testing begins with urine, which is first screened and then followed by additional tests depending on the outcome of the screen. You can get extensive information about the DoD drug policy and drug testing from the TRICARE website section on the Drug Demand Reduction Program (DDRP), including military testing. And for answers about the potential effects of specific dietary supplements on drug screening tests, you can contact your service’s military drug testing laboratory by phone or email at:
- U.S. Army, Fort Meade, MD – (301)-677-7085 FTDTL_MSupport@amedd.army.mil
- U.S. Army, Tripler AMC, HI – (808)-433-5176 FTDTLWeb.Portal@amedd.army.mil
- U.S. Navy, Great Lakes, IL – 847-688-2045, press 2 or ext 113 NDSLGL-tech-help@med.navy.mil
- U.S. Navy, San Diego, CA – 619-532-5180 NDSLSD-scientificsupport@med.navy.mil
- U.S. Navy, Jacksonville, FL – 904-542-7755, press 2 or ext 104 DLJAX@dlj0ndsl.med.navy.mil
- U.S. Air Force, Lackland AFB, TX – (210) 292-3089 aaron.jacobs.3@us.af.mil
Positive urinalysis results due to dietary supplement use can occur because products on the market may contain undeclared drug ingredients—that is, controlled substances that are not stated/listed on the product label. More information can be found in the FDA News Release from 2010 in which this was brought to the public’s attention. There is no way to know if a particular supplement contains an undeclared drug without laboratory testing, but the FDA does keep track of such products once identified through its MedWatch program. One of the best ways to check for such products—and other potential health issues related to dietary supplements—is through the FDA website’s Dietary Supplements Alerts section.
The Department of Defense (DoD) currently has no formal policy on the use of dietary supplements and no list of either banned or safe supplements. For more on this topic, read HPRC’s article “Is there a list of dietary supplements/substances banned by the military?”
