The risks of buying SARMs from unethical manufacturers

Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, better known as SARMs, have seen a meteoric rise in popularity across Yorkshire. They are increasingly being favoured by bodybuilders and other fitness fans as they are safer than other more traditional means of enhancing performance and building muscle mass, such as anabolic steroids.

Currently under research for their potential benefits on a vast array of conditions they are entirely legal to buy and sell in the UK. However, it’s important to choose wisely if you are going to buy SARMs as not all sellers operate to the same quality standards.

Disreputable sellers

In the 2020 research article ‘Analysis of supplements available to UK consumers purporting to contain selective androgen receptor modulators’, published in 2021 on Drug Testing and Analysis, the authors of the study analysed supplement products marketed as SARMs in the UK. Their findings are proof of the difficulties members of the public face when it comes to sourcing high-quality SARMs from reputable sources.

“Selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) are compounds with specific androgenic properties investigated for the treatment of conditions such as muscle wasting diseases,” the study reads.

“The reported androgenic properties have resulted in their use by athletes, and consequently they have been on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list for more than a decade. SARMs have been investigated by pharmaceutical companies as potential drug candidates, but to date no SARM has demonstrated sufficient safety and efficacy to gain clinical approval by either the European Medicines Agency or the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.”

In the UK, it is the The UK’s Food Standard Agency (FSA) which is responsible for deciding whether or not to authorise SARMs, now classified as ‘novel food’, for general consumption. As the authorisation has not yet been given, SARMs cannot be sold for human consumption. There is a loop hole however, as selling SARMs for research purposes is legal.

This legal grey area has led to a proliferation of manufacturers and sellers who operate online popping up, with no real oversight or standards to adhere to.

The study reads, “Despite their lack of safety approval, SARMs are often illegally marketed as dietary supplements, available for consumers to buy online. In this study, a range of supplement products marketed as SARMs were purchased and analysed using high resolution accurate mass - mass spectrometry to evaluate the accuracy of product claims and content labelling.”

The results

The analysis found that while some products were labelled correctly, in several cases there were discrepancies between what was written on the packaging and the actual product it contained. Some supplements had no active ingredients at all, making them complete fakes. Others contained “undeclared, prohibited analytes”. In yet other cases SARMs were indeed detected, but at different concentrations than the label suggested.

“The outcome of this experiment highlights the high risk of such supplement products to consumers. The inaccurate product claims give rise to uncertainty over both the dose taken and the identity of any of these unapproved drugs,” the study adds.

With no real regulation or standards to adhere to when it comes to the sale of SARMs for research purposes, as UK law permits, buyers run the risk of buying a product online which does not contain what is advertised. In the best case scenario, the scam leaves the buyer with an ineffective drug which has no active ingredients; in the worst case scenario, they may buy and use a product containing harmful chemicals.

If you’re thinking of adding SARMs to your fitness routine, it is essential to source products from ethical manufacturers and sellers. Sarms UK sells only the best quality SARMs, backed by the most accurate research currently available.