The FDA recently issued a warning about a number of tainted diet supplements. Many of the products claim to be “natural” or contain only “herbal” ingredients – but actually contain pharmaceutical ingredients.

An FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine (a controlled substance), rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States), phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), and phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent). Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients far exceeded the FDA-recommended levels, putting consumers’ health at risk.

The following supplements are listed on the FDA alert:

• Fatloss Slimming
• 2 Day Diet
• 3x Slimming Power
• Japan Lingzhi 24 Hours Diet
• 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming
• 3 Day Diet
• 7 Day Herbal Slim
• 8 Factor Diet
• 7 Diet Day/Night Formula
• 999 Fitness Essence
• Extrim Plus
• GMP
• Imelda Perfect Slim
• Lida DaiDaihua
• Miaozi Slim Capsules
• Perfect Slim
• Perfect Slim 5x
• Phyto Shape
• ProSlim Plus
• Royal Slimming Formula
• Slim 3 in 1
• Slim Express 360
• Slimtech
• Somotrim
• Superslim
• TripleSlim
• Zhen de Shou
• Venom Hyperdrive 3.0

There are no instant solutions to be found in a bottle, and this is yet another reason to avoid such products.

Acomplia (Rimonabant), for example, is not yet approved by the FDA. However there are plenty of black marketeers out there who are happy to send you the drug – at least you hope it’s the right drug.

Can you be really sure what’s in these pills?

UN watchdogs have issued a warning about diet pills claiming the “slimming obsession” is behind the huge market in both counterfeit and real drugs.

• Highest users of anoectics – Brazil, Argentina, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR of China, in decreasing order.
• The main substances manufactured and consumed worldwide are phentermine (45 per cent), fenproporex (23 per cent), amfepramone (18 per cent), mazindol (9 per cent) and phendimetrazine (4 per cent).

Brazil seems to be out-of-control with a per capita consumption rate 40% higher than that of the US. In fact a significant amount of drug manufacturing seems to go on in Brazil.

Their use can be addictive, and since they stimulate the central nervous system, indiscriminate use could produce serious adverse effects. Acute overdose could be very dangerous and may lead to panic states, aggressive and violent behaviour, hallucinations, respiratory depression, convulsions, coma and death. That is why these drugs have to be prescribed by a doctor who has carefully assessed the risk vs. benefit for the patient.

See the full article from the UN here (PDF)