Meat products as potential doping traps?

Recently published news regarding food safety in China caused some worldwide disturbance and uncertainty among top athletes and their supporting staff. According to an article in The New York Times, a member of the U.S. Olympic team discovered oversized chicken breast when visiting a supermarket in Beijing, China. More interesting, the chicken contained considerable amounts of anabolic steroids, which were reported to be large enough to cause a failed doping test after ingesting the meat (Shpigel, 2008). Based on this case report it appears necessary to assess the danger posed to our (Olympic) athletes by foods and especially meat products on a more general basis. More important, our athletes are involved in worldwide travel during the competitive season. Therefore we must consider not only our athletes’ local food choices but also the wide variety of foods and regional delicacies our athletes might be confronted with in foreign countries.