800 American Food Additives Found Ingredients Hazardous to Health

Almost 800 food supplements sold to US consumers from 2007 to 2016 a year contained unauthorized ingredients, according to a new analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A study published Friday in the JAMA Network Open found that more than one unauthorized pharmaceutical component was found in 20% of these supplements.

Фото: Depositphotos

According to the authors of the study, such drugs, often sold in unknown concentrations, can be dangerous to the health of consumers, writes Fox43.

“These products may cause serious adverse health effects due to accidental misuse, overuse, or interactions with other drugs, including those in the same dietary supplement,” write the authors, led by Madhur Kumar of the Division of Public Health. California Drug and Food Administration.

More than 50% of adult Americans use food additives of various kinds: this industry in the US today is worth 35 billion dollars, the study notes.

Kumar and his co-workers reviewed products sold as an ingredient of dietary supplements in the 2007-2016 years. The database is stored on FDA agency website as a resource for consumers and allows to increase the transparency of such research. The authors conducted a new analysis, independent of the results of the FDA.

The largest number of products containing hidden ingredients was reported in the 2009 year, when two large batches of drugs with a general composition of 99 names were withdrawn. Between 2012 and 2016, 443 of 776 products were registered as containing potentially hazardous ingredients. In the vast majority of cases (97%), unauthorized pharmaceutical ingredients were not indicated on food supplement labels.

About 45% were sold with the manufacturer’s promise to improve intimate life, 41% to help with weight loss, 12% to help build muscle mass. Drugs found in sexual enhancement products included sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil: all active ingredients in prescription drugs designed to treat erectile dysfunction, which can cause serious damage to blood vessels if abused.

The most common pharmaceutical ingredients found in counterfeit weight loss products were sibutramine, which was withdrawn from the US market in 2010 due to cardiovascular risks, as well as the laxative phenolphthalein. Many of the muscle growth products contained undeclared anabolic steroids that, if abused, can lead to mental problems in the short term, as well as kidney, liver, and heart problems in the long term.

Other substances found in counterfeit supplements include antidepressants and antihistamines, which can have side effects and interact with other drugs.

Фото: Depositphotos

“As the dietary supplement industry continues to grow in the United States, it is important to continue to address this important public health issue,” the authors concluded.

Dr. Peter Cohen from the Cambridge Health Alliance in Massachusetts said that although the FDA had found 746 counterfeit supplements, she announced voluntary recalls from the sale of less than half of these products.

“Only 360 of 746 (48%) were recalled, leaving the majority of falsified dietary supplements (more than 350 products) available for sale,” Cohen wrote in an article about the study.

Cohen, a professor at Harvard Medical School, believes that "more FDA action is needed so that all falsified supplements are effectively and quickly removed from the market."

FDA spokeswoman Lindsey Haacke wrote in an e-mail message that the organization "recognizes the seriousness of this problem and continues to act within its resources and authority to solve it as far as possible." She noted that immediately after the discovery of a dangerous supplement, the main goal of the agency is “to mitigate any risk associated with public health by informing consumers about any hazards of the product, as well as working to remove it from the market as soon as possible.”

Even after taking action against companies, the FDA sometimes “faces challenges in deterring the fraudulent marketing of these types of products,” including product remarking, which is used to avoid identifying dangerous ingredients, Haacke writes.

Cohen proposed that Congress reform the 1994 Nutrition and Education Act by requiring companies to formally register supplements before they are sold and by giving the FDA more effective enforcement tools, such as the ability to immediately revoke the registration of a falsified product.

“The FDA's failure to aggressively use all available tools to remove adulterated supplements from commerce leaves consumers' health at risk,” Cohen concluded.

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