Some bee pollen weight loss supplements contain undeclared or banned drugs that pose serious health risks to consumers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns. The agency has received more than 50 reports of adverse health events, including one death. The FDA doesn't evaluate supplements before they enter the market. It's up to the manufacturer to ensure the product's safety. Unfortunately, some of them don't. At least a dozen weight loss products containing bee pollen have also been found to contain sibutramine, a drug that was banned in 2010 because it posed an increased risk of heart attack and stroke; and phenolphthalein, a drug not approved for sale in the U.S. that acts as a laxative and is a suspected of causing cancer. Those products are: Zi Xiu Tang, Ultimate … [Read more...]
After Meridia Pulled From Market, Generic Turns Up In Slimming Coffee
Meridia, a weight loss drug from Abbott Laboratories, was pulled from the market in 2010 after it was found to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. But now a generic version of the drug is turning up in some brands of “slimming coffees.” Slimming coffees arrived on stores shelves a few years ago promising health benefits and easy weight loss. Some of them, however, contain the generic form of Meridia called sibutramine and can pose a serious health risk rather. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Meridia for sale in the US as a a weight loss aid for the obese. Thirteen years later, the agency requested the product’s withdrawal from the market after a study conducted in connection with European approval for the drug found “a 16 percent increase in the risk of … [Read more...]
