RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2009

Elite Canadian athletes enhance performance legally and safely

Richmond Hill. Accidental doping is real and athletes like Serge Despres are speaking out about the consequences. As the Clean Sport Initiative launch prepares to debut in Ottawa on May 26th the sports community should expect to hear some tough realities surrounding uncertified supplements and their risk to athletes.

The Clean Sport Initiative launch will be hosted by Olympic athlete Olympic bobsleigh pilot Serge Despres, who was banned from competition due to accidental doping, will kick off the discussion, followed by sport nutritionist Dr. John Berardi, who works closely with athletes on nutritional issues and is an athlete himself. NSF International's Ed Wyszumiala who oversees NSF's Safe For Sport^TM program and Dave Ellis, High Performance Director of the Canadian Ski Cross Team will also add their perspectives on this controversial issue. The panel will be moderated by CBC sportscaster Scott Russell.

Accidental doping has become an ongoing issue for every athlete who competes at elite levels. While most athletes work hard to avoid all banned substances, the ongoing threat of testing positive due to accidental contamination in nutritional suplements stalks athletes who have devoted their lives to their sport and their dreams of becoming world champions. Although many supplements can be beneficial, even minute amounts of banned substances can show up in a drug test with disastrous results.

With 198 substances on the banned list, athletes, their trainers and medical practitioners must maintain constant vigilance. Even trace amounts of banned substances can undo the good intentions of athletes and trace amounts of banned substances can find their way into dietary supplements in facilities where, for example, cold medications are manufactured. Banned substances does not mean bad substances, many common medications contain substances that are banned in sport.

The event will provide an opportunity for athletes, trainers and the media to learn more about how accidental doping happens, why it occurs, how it affects athletes' lives and careers and what can be done to help prevent it.

The Clean Sport Initiative, is a program that is dedicated to raising awareness of accidental doping, educating athletes about the risks and promoting solutions. The program launch will be followed by an opportunity to discuss issues informally over lunch.

The Clean Sport Initiative

When Canada's Ski Cross team competes with international contenders in 2010 it will enhance its performance with the only Canadian multi-vitamin certified safe for elite athletes.

Dave Ellis, High Performance Director for the Ski Cross team says Activ-X is already working on his team. "When you're up against the best in the world you're looking for every advantage you can get. Activ-X helps us to train longer and harder. It reduces recovery time and can even help us to prevent injuries. Those are the kinds of advantages we need to squeeze out that extra performance that can make all the difference in international competition. And of course, the fact that it's certified clean is absolutely priceless. We have to focus on our performance with confidence and Activ-X lets us do that."

Ski Cross team members will take Activ-X during training and throughout their international competitions. Supplied by Platinum Naturals, a Richmond Hill natural supplements company and the Official Ski Cross Team Supplier, Activ-X is the first multivitamin in Canada to be declared free by NSF International of all 198 substances banned for sport.

NSF International's Certified for Sport^TM program is recognized by major sporting organizations, such as the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB).

NSF certification is extremely difficult to acquire. The rigorous NSF certification process involves a series of manufacturing facility audits, label claim testing and banned substance testing. Only a few nutritional companies in Canada have embarked on the process and Activ-X is the only multivitamin that has passed.

Ski Cross, which has been recognized as a sport for the past 10 years, pits four to six skiers against each other at a time. The skiers race simultaneously over a course that combines both natural and man-made rollers, jumps, banked turns and tabletops at speeds that can top 70 km/h. The fastest two skiers from each heat move to the next round until the final heat.

Ski Cross will be making its debut as a full-medal sport at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Over the next 12 months, Ski Cross Canada will be focusing on a structured program of physical training and nutrition programs combined with top quality equipment and technology to allow the athletes to focus exclusively on their sport without distraction.

"We know how hard athletes and their coaches work and how easily victory can be lost. We want them to perform at their peak and we know Activ-X can help them do that." Says Platinum Naturals President and CEO, David Khang.

About Platinum Naturals

Platinum Naturals is a Richmond Hill-based natural supplements company that produces a wide range of high quality supplements. The company was founded in 1996 to produce nutritional supplements that are as close to nature as possible. They contain no flavours, fillers or dyes and are made of the highest-quality ingredients. Platinum's exclusive Omega Suspension Technology (OST) significantly improves the body's ability to absorb nutrients and enhance their efficacy, won the 2005 Leonardo Di Vinci Award for Innovation and Creativity in Business.