Scientists have found a synthetic chemical in 11 weight-loss supplements whose labels include the Acacia rigidula shrub. Several of the products and their manufacturers have been in trouble before, revealing a weak FDA, critics say.
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Eleven supposedly "all-natural" weight-loss supplements contain BMPEA, a close chemical cousin to amphetamine, finds a study published Tuesday.
The products all list Acacia rigidula, a Texas shrub also known as blackbrush, on their labels. They're sold widely online and in stores. In response to the study, one of the manufacturers, Vitacost, has stopped selling the products.
The new findings align with a 2013 study carried out by scientists from the FDA showing that many products listing Acacia rigidula on their labels also contain BMPEA. That study also found that real Acacia rigidula leaves, twigs, and bark do not contain any trace of BMPEA.
No one knows the effects of BMPEA on human health. Its chemical structure is very similar to amphetamine, a stimulant known to increase blood pressure and heart rate. Despite these concerning findings, the FDA study did not name the tainted supplements or their manufacturers, and the agency didn't issue any public warning about products labeled with Acacia rigidula.
"The fact that they haven't done anything two years after their own research team sorted this out is completely inexplicable," Pieter Cohen, a doctor at the Cambridge Health Alliance in Boston and one of the new study's authors, told BuzzFeed News.
"It just demonstrates how the FDA is abdicating their responsibility to protect the public's health," Cohen added.
When asked by BuzzFeed News why it had not named the companies selling BMPEA or notified the public about the products, FDA spokesperson Juli Putnam said that its 2013 study "was intended as investigative research into Acacia rigidula and dietary supplements containing this botanical in general, rather than as a signal of pending enforcement activity."
In a brief statement about Cohen's new study, Putnam said that the FDA "does not identify a specific safety concern at this time," but that it "will consider taking regulatory action, as appropriate, to protect consumers."
These 11 supplements contain the synthetic stimulant BMPEA, the new study found. They all have Acacia rigidula, also known as blackbrush, listed on their labels.
Jenny Chang / BuzzFeed News
They're only supposed to contain vitamins, minerals, herbs, and botanicals. When the FDA discovers otherwise, federal law says it "is responsible for taking action against" tainted products.
In 2013, for example, the FDA stormed the Georgia warehouse of the supplement company Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals. U.S. marshals seized 1,200 pounds — a retail value of $2 million — of products spiked with DMAA, a synthetic stimulant linked to psychiatric disorders, heart attacks, and death.
Hi-Tech then sued the FDA, claiming that DMAA comes from a geranium plant. In a press release about the suit, Hi-Tech claimed to have sold more than a million bottles of DMAA products. The lawsuit is still pending.
Last year the Federal Trade Commission won a long-running court case against Hi-Tech for a different issue: making misleading health claims when advertising its products. The court found against Hi-Tech, but the company's two leaders refused to recall the suspect products, landing them in jail for contempt.
Despite these high-profile scuffles with federal agencies, many of these same brands are still being sold. In fact, of the 11 supplements called out in Cohen's new study as containing BMPEA, six are made by Hi-Tech — and all six are brands that the FDA had previously blacklisted for having DMAA.
"It's certainly possible that some of the supplements we tested still have DMAA in them," Cohen said. "We're currently in the process of analyzing them for all compounds."
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