According to a new legislation unveiled recently by Senator Orrin Hatch, dietary supplements spiked with anabolic steroids will be examined by food inspectors will be working closely with agents of the drug enforcement.

The bill is supported by major dietary supplement industry associations and players’ associations for Major League Baseball and the National Football League.

From Sltrib.com:

Travis Tygart, the CEO of the Anti-Doping Agency, called the bill “a great step forward.” He said he’s glad the senators recognized the need for legislation to fill in the gaps in the law and help protect consumers.

For months, the Anti-Doping Agency has argued that it’s too easy for dishonest supplement makers to slip steroids into their products and get away with it. They asked McCain to sponsor legislation that would require supplement makers to provide proof that their products were safe. Companies would also have had to hand over any customer complaint to the government.

Hatch, one of the biggest supporters of supplements in Congress, protested, saying McCain’s bill would increase costs to make supplements and reduce their availability to the public.

McCain, Hatch and their co-sponsors struck an agreement around four issues.

They agreed to increase cooperation between the DEA and the Food and Drug Administration, while also requiring the FDA to speed up rules on what constitutes a new dietary ingredient and any tests to determine its safety.

Those two items are part of the new Hatch-Harkin legislation.

The bill was formulated in a response to a campaign by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and major sports leagues and co-sponsored with Democratic Iowa Senator Tom Harkin.