Certified Drug Free® 
BSCG Newsletter – April 2021
April 29, 2021
Banned Substances Control Group
With spring this year comes renewal in more ways than one. We hope this season is a game-changing one for sports and brings health and happiness to all.
A reminder that we have been actively following Amazon’s evolving policy for supplement sales on its platform, and BSCG has been named an official certification provider for products sold there. If you have any questions or comments about how this major retail development is playing out, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time.
U.S. Department of Defense Recognizes BSCG
BSCG is grateful to be recognized as a qualified third-party certification provider by the Department of Defense (DoD) project Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS). OPSS is an initiative martialed by the DoD beginning in 2012 to provide resources and education to service members on nutrition and dietary supplements. Included in their resources are recommended guidelines for how to ‘Check Your Supplement’ before use, which highlights third-party certification, and the BSCG Certified Drug Free program, as a key consideration.
In late March, BSCG President Oliver Catlin had the opportunity to present to the DoD Food Nutrition and Dietary Supplements and other Self Care Products Subcommittees. “It is always nice to have a chance to showcase the merits of our BSCG Certified Drug Free program especially in front of a distinguished group of DoD representatives,” Oliver says. “We are honored to be acknowledged by a wonderful group like OPSS that offers a great set of resources on nutritional supplements to our valued service members. We encourage our clients and colleagues to share the OPSS resources and engage with this distinguished community that works to protect our troops.”
Along with the Check Your Supplement product screening guidelines, the OPSS site has a variety of other helpful resources. Included is a list of Prohibited Ingredients, an Ingredient Index to learn more about popular ingredients, a place to Report Side Effects, and get Quick Facts, or Ask an Expert. It should be noted that as of February 2020 the DoD has prohibited hemp or CBD products.
Love Hemp – UFC Announces Global CBD Partnership
BSCG is pleased to welcome Love Hemp, one of the UK’s largest hemp and CBD brands, as a client in the BSCG Certified CBD program. We have recently certified a number of their products, including CBD oils, CBD capsules, and a CBD body salve. Love Hemp has been has been awarded a five-year global CBD partnership by the UFC. This partnership makes the UFC one of the first sporting groups in the world to accept a hemp and CBD brand as a sponsor.
The UFC dietary supplement policy requires supplements, including CBD products, to be certified for banned substances. BSCG is pleased to be recognized as a qualified third-party certification provider by the UFC. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Love Hemp to certify their products in our BSCG Certified CBD program and help enable this exciting new partnership.
BSCG Welcomes Kannaway’s Pure Gold to the BSCG Certified CBD Program
The UFC dietary supplement policy requires supplements, including CBD products, to be certified for banned substances. BSCG is pleased to be recognized as a qualified third-party certification provider by the UFC. We are excited to have the opportunity to work with Love Hemp to certify their products in our BSCG Certified CBD program and help enable this exciting new partnership.
“Our acceptance by BSCG is an important milestone in confirming the quality of Kannaway Pure Gold, and we are honored to let our community of Brand Ambassadors and customers know that this broad-spectrum hemp oil has held up to the most rigorous quality testing to ensure we are providing a proven safe, quality product,” Kannaway shared on its website.
Pure Gold is a broad-spectrum hemp oil presenting a range of cannabinoids without measurable amounts of THC. Kannaway is a subsidiary of Medical Marijuana, Inc., thought to be the first-ever publicly traded cannabis company in the United States. Pure Gold 1500 mg is available in the United States and Japan.
BSCG Certified CBD Still One-of-a-Kind
BSCG is proud that the BSCG Certified CBD was the first third-party certification program in the world to offer banned substance protection to the CBD and hemp product industry. But that’s just the beginning of the story.
We’re pleased that our client base for this rigorous and thorough program has continued to grow—and that all of our original clients have remained on board. BSCG Certified CBD is an all-in-one program that addresses a range of consumer questions. It puts limits on THC to avoid unwanted effects and drug-testing positives, verifies that products meet claims for CBD content, and screens for banned substances in sport or other pharmaceutical drugs, synthetic cannabinoids or environmental contaminants that may be present. This program does it all—and then some.
Real Risks in Product Claims that Push the Envelope
Recently, Reckitt Benckiser’s Move Free Advanced dietary supplement settled a nationwide class action lawsuit over the marketing of their products for a whopping $53 million. Plaintiffs had alleged that the company violated the state laws in New York and California barring false or misleading advertising with its product label and marketing claims.
As this legal article notes, the Federal Trade Commission “requires generally that advertisers must have a reasonable basis for all expressed and implied product claims in their advertising.” The FTC has an advertising guide for the dietary supplement industry. Our BSCG Certified Drug Free, BSCG Certified Quality, and BSCG Certified CBD programs include a review of product claims to help protect our clients from these kinds of concerns.
