Deer velvet scandal damages industry
A Nelson-based deer velvet company is spending thousands proving its product is pure in the wake of a scandal where an Invercargill competitor was found to be mixing carob into its capsules.
Mountain Red has established a programme with the Banned Substances Control Group (BSCG) in the United States, to test and certify its materials sold are sports grade.
Mountain Red chief operating officer Campbell Berry-Kilgour said the BSCG certification represented the first sports certified deer velvet antler product available in New Zealand. The testing covers 483 drugs. The company also has its product tested by a third-party to prove their credibility.
While Mountain Red’s certification process came at a considerable cost – running into thousands of dollars per batch – Berry Kilgour said it was small change when compared to a potential risk to reputation.
‘‘We give our product to a young athlete, then they go off and compete and win a race. All we need is for one person to test positive; boom their career’s over and our reputation is gone.’’
Berry-Kilgour said it undertook the testing following recent adverse publicity in the NZ market about the supply of some raw material ingredients.
In 2013, Invercargill company Silberhorn was caught up in a world doping controversy after athletes were warned off deer velvet products due to the presence of muscle growth hormone IGF-1. In 2018, the company admitted 11 million of its capsules were given a carob filler instead of the stated amount of deer velvet.
Berry-Kilgour said the negative publicity had been felt throughout the industry.
‘‘That was, to me, abhorrent – we’d seen it with Manuka honey, now deer velvet, so our customers were coming to us saying ‘how do we know that you’re selling us what you’re telling us?
‘‘I think we’ve seen a few examples in New Zealand where that integrity has failed, but overall the supplement industry is well-meaning and self-regulates.’’
Berry-Kilgour said integrity, sustainability and a ready supply of Deer Velvet Antler were key features of the company’s offering. Mountain Red’s efforts to address any mistrust towards deer velvet demonstrated it was not doing anything untoward and that everything inside its capsules was pure deer velvet.
‘‘You have to be top notch – at the end of the day we’re asking people to consume this – it can’t be something that you paint the side of your house with.’’