The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been working hard to ban certain products and supplements that are tainted with undeclared harmful drugs.
The agency says, “Many products sold online as health-enhancement supplements are tainted with ingredients that can be harmful to your health.” It publishes a database of tainted products that are sold as dietary supplements.
Recently, the FDA warned against using nearly 50 male-enhancement supplements and weight-loss products that are sold online and in some retail stores. These products have been found to contain undeclared ingredients that could pose a serious risk to your health.
The products were found to be tainted with prescription drugs such as sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil, desmethylsibutramine, fluoxetine, sibutramine, and phenolphthalein.
The FDA said in a news release, “Many of the products the agency purchased from Amazon and eBay have names that are the same as, or similar to, tainted products that have been the subject of previous FDA consumer warnings. Several of the Amazon products are designated as an ‘Amazon Choice’ or ‘#1 Best Seller.’”
“Products with undeclared drug ingredients violate federal law,” the agency added. “In general, these products are unapproved new drugs and/or adulterated dietary supplements. In addition, they are misbranded because their labels do not accurately reflect their ingredients.”
Some of the dangerous male-enhancement products include White Panther, Triple Wicked Platinum, Thumbs Up 7 White 11K, Power Khan, and Man Fuel Xtreme Edition.
Some of the weight-loss products that contained prescription drugs include Super Slim, Body Shape Weight Loss System, Lishou Slimming Coffee, Livtone, and Ultimate Boost.
Donald Ashley, Director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said, “Protecting the health and safety of Americans is the FDA’s highest priority, and we will remain vigilant and communicate about products and companies that place U.S. consumers at risk.”
“While the FDA has engaged in discussions with online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay regarding these issues in the past, we believe they can do more to protect consumers from these fraudulent and potentially dangerous products,” he added.
“We continue to urge stores, websites and online marketplaces, like Amazon and eBay, to take appropriate steps to protect the American public by not selling or facilitating the sale of illegal FDA-regulated products.” Meanwhile, the FDA encourages doctors and consumers to report any adverse events.
