Amino Labs, manufacturer of the nutritional supplement that caused Iljo Keisse to return a positive control for HCT (hydrochlorothiazide), were surprised by his acquittal. The manufacturer strongly believes that his positive test was not due to the use of their product.
“With the acquittal of Iljo Keisse, the Disciplinary Commission of the Royal Belgian Cycling Union is deliberately ignoring the report done by independent experts. It stipulated that it is ‘highly unlikely’ that Keisse tested positive HCT by the deliberate ingestion of the food supplement ZMA,” the manufacturer said in a press release.
“It surprised us that the Disciplinary Commission has never wondered who exactly is responsible for the contamination of HCT,” explains Managing Director Anne Roger. “On the one hand you have the isolated ZMA capsules; handed in by the entourage of Keisse, wherein the banned product HCT is found. On the other hand you have the expert reports of the accredited institutions Chemiphar and the University of Gent and the report of the Federal Agency for the Safety of The Food Chain (FAVV), confirming that no HCT occurs in the products of Amino Labs.”
“The FAVV analyzed both several batches of ZMA capsules in late February 2009 – which please note included the challenged capsules – and the entire production of Amino Labs were screened.”
“Moreover, we note that the Disciplinary Commission has clearly not followed the expert report, in contrast to the unilateral study proffered by Keisse’s defense. We place serious doubt on the results drawn and methodology used and will therefore not fail to investigate the case thoroughly.”
The company is concerned with the impact the court’s decision will have on athletes purchasing their products. It is not clear whether their investigation will enable them to challenge the outcome of the case.