Body Supplements

The Hon. J.A. DARLEY (15:50): Last weekend, for the first time in Australia, the Arnold Multi-Sports Festival, incorporating the Arnold Classic, was held in Melbourne. The festival, named and established by Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been operating in the US for over 26 years. However, 2015 was the first time the event has been held in Australia. The festival included demonstrations from 19 sports, 136 exhibitors, a super gym which featured seminars from the world's leading fitness experts, a martial arts festival and a golf tournament, as well as body building and fitness modelling competitions.

Holding such an enormous event in Australia demonstrates the growing community interest in the fitness industry, particularly in body building. Body building has grown to be a multimillion dollar industry with competitors often pushing their bodies to the limit to win competitions and lucrative sponsorship deals. These limits are often tested further with the assistance of drugs such as anabolic steroids, growth hormones and insulin and, whilst these practices may be commonplace within the industry, the growing interest in fitness has seen an explosion of products flooding the marketplace.

Supplements such as branched-chain amino acids, creatine, nitric oxide and diindolylmethane are all readily available in the growing number of health and fitness stores. The popularity of these products is also demonstrated by the number of young people who no longer pre-load on alcohol before going out but instead take a pre-workout supplement. This is particularly popular with young women, as the supplements are far lower than alcohol in calories and sugar. Further to this, our young men are often turning to these products in their struggle with body image to try to achieve the ideal buff body.

I would be surprised if many consumers were aware of what is in these products. However, they probably feel they are safe as they are so readily available. Side effects are often not listed and researching the ingredients would be beyond most without a science degree. It may be merely coincidental, but the increase in late-night violence seems to be somewhat correlated with the increase in popularity of the consumption of these sorts of products.

As these products are designed to make your heart race and emulate the physiological 'fight or flight' response to danger, it is no wonder that there is an increase in aggression for individuals who consume them. Disturbingly, in 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a particular supplement used for weight loss or muscle building was linked to nearly 100 cases of hepatitis in the US.

It is believed that a new ingredient called aegeline, which was added to the supplement, caused the illness. However, as the FDA in the US is only responsible for regulating products after they are released, there is no requirement for companies to prove that their product is safe. Effectively, in these cases, the consumers were the guinea pigs for the products, and it was only by their falling ill that authorities were alerted to the problem.

I should note that, remarkably, none of what I have mentioned today is illegal. Last year, the practice of administering peptides and injecting individuals with calves' blood was exposed to the public thanks to the controversy at the Essendon Football Club. Again, whilst many may find this unsavoury, it is not illegal. These products do not seem to receive the same attention and scrutiny as other ingestibles, and, as it is a developing field, little seems to be known about the long-term effects. As lawmakers, I believe we have an obligation to investigate the effects of these products have on people both physically and psychologically, and, in turn, the effect this is having on the community.

Time expired.