DoD Prohibited Dietary Supplement Ingredients Project

This project provides an easy-to-browse, searchable, and regularly updated list of substances prohibited by the Department of Defense (DoD) for use in dietary supplements. This tool exists because the DoD's own Operation Supplement Safety (OPSS) system has failed service members by directing people to a poorly designed webpage/database as its source of truth.

As detailed in Task & Purpose's investigation and discussed on Reddit (see posts on r/USMC and r/navy), the DoD's prohibited ingredients system has a few critical flaws:

• No product search capability - You can't search by supplement brand name, only by obscure chemical ingredients
• Unforgiving search system - A single typo means a banned substance won't be flagged (e.g., "enlcomiphene" vs "enclomiphene")
• No autocorrect or user guidance - The system provides no help for complex chemical names
• Automatic career termination - Once caught with a prohibited substance, separation is often mandatory regardless of circumstances
• No real due process - Many service members don't even get a hearing

What does this project do?

• Retrieves the official DoD prohibited ingredients list from the OPSS website
• Makes it actually searchable - Unlike OPSS, you can search by substance names, not just chemical formulas
• Provides clear substance pages with comprehensive information including UNII database links when available
• Generates a user-friendly website with proper navigation and search functionality
• Updates automatically every day to catch new additions to the prohibited list
• Offers the transparency and usability that service members deserve but aren't getting from the official system

The Bigger Picture

While this tool helps individual service members navigate the prohibited substances list, the real solution requires systemic change:

• Education over punishment - First-time violations should be treated as health and welfare issues, not misconduct
• Fix the official OPSS system - Add product search, autocorrect, and clear guidance
• End automatic separation - Commands should have discretion based on circumstances
• Provide real due process - Service members deserve actual hearings, not just written statements
• Focus on the mission - Stop driving out dedicated troops over administrative failures

As military defense counsel Captain Max Jesse Goldberg wrote: "The Defense Department says it wants fit, resilient service members. Yet we ruin careers for doing exactly what we demand: getting ready for the next fight."

How does it work?

1. Retrieval: Every day, at least once, it downloads the latest data from the official DoD OPSS page
2. Parsing: Extracts and cleans up the data into a usable format
3. Enhancement: Adds additional information like UNII database links for better substance identification
4. Generation: Creates an actually navigable website that service members can use

For Service Members

⚠️ IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: While this tool makes the prohibited list more accessible, always verify any supplement with your command before use. The official OPSS system, despite its flaws, remains the authoritative source. When in doubt, don't risk your career - ask your SACO (Substance Abuse Control Officer) or medical personnel.

This project cannot prevent all supplement-related incidents, but it can help you:

• Quickly search for substances by name (not just chemical formulas)
• Understand what substances are prohibited and why
• Access additional scientific information through UNII database links
• Stay updated on new additions to the prohibited list

For Advocates and Policymakers

If you're working to fix this systemic problem:

• Share stories - Document cases of good service members being hurt by this broken system
• Support reform - Push for education-first policies and discretion in enforcement
• Demand accountability - The current system is failing the very people it was meant to protect
• Use this data - Our structured data can support research and policy arguments

For contributors and technical users

• The code is split into three main modules:
  • retrieval.py: Handles downloading the data from the source.
  • parsing.py: Extracts and cleans the data.
  • generation.py: Generates the website content and changelog.
• The main script (generate_docs.py) ties these together.
• To run locally:
  1. Install dependencies with uv pip install -r requirements.txt --system && uv pip install -r requirements-docs.txt --system
  2. Run python generate_docs.py
  3. Serve the site with mkdocs serve

License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License. See LICENSE.

Sources and Further Reading

• Task & Purpose: "The secret list that's ending military careers"
• r/USMC Discussion Thread
• Official OPSS Website (the flawed system we're trying to fix)
• DoD Instruction 6130.06 (the policy behind the enforcement)

Contact

For questions, suggestions, or to report supplement-related incidents, open an issue or pull request on GitHub.

If you're a service member facing separation over supplement use, contact base legal services or a military defense counsel immediately. You have rights, even if the system doesn't make that clear.