FDA
October 13, 2010
www.fda.gov
What are Tainted Supplements/Foods?
In recent years, FDA has identified hundreds of products marketed as dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals. The products are typically promoted for sexual enhancement, weight loss, bodybuilding, and diabetes. FDA lab analyses have found products that have been laced with a wide variety of potentially dangerous ingredients that include:
• Approved prescription drug ingredients and their analogues
• Drugs banned by FDA for safety reasons
• Controlled substances such as anabolic steroids and stimulant diet drugs
• New active drug ingredients that are untested and unstudied
Health Risks
Tainted products place consumers at risk of injury and death, especially those consumers with underlying health conditions. These products can also interact in life threatening ways with other medications a consumer may be taking.
Know What’s in Your Products
FDA is becoming more active in pursuing criminal convictions for sellers of tainted supplements. For example, in 2010, VMG Global was convicted of a felony and fined for selling supplements laced withanabolic steroids; in recent months, FDA has brought misdemeanor charges against several persons for selling sexual enhancement supplements with hidden active pharmaceutical ingredients.
Requirements Under the Law
Anyone who sells or distributes these illegal products may be subject to:
• Criminal liability — misdemeanors and felonies
• Seizure of your products
• Injunction of the responsible party or company
• Disgorgement of profits and restitution
Retailers and distributors are responsible under the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) for ensuring that the products they sell are safe and properly labeled. A company cannot escape the law by relying on a manufacturer’s or supplier’s representations that the product is not tainted.
Download a PDF of this statement |
Watch Out for These Red Flags
• Product Categories:
• Sexual Enhancement
• Weight Loss
• Bodybuilding
• Diabetes
• Labeling claims like:
• “Alternative to [approved drug product]”
• “Do not take if you have any medical condition, if you are taking any prescription medications,
• or if you are pregnant”
• “May cause positive result in performance enhancing drug test”
• Labels primarily in a foreign language
• Beware of mass solicitations (particularly emails) from suppliers and wholesalers offering products in the above categories.
• Directions and warnings that resemble FDA approved drug products |
