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Adulterated supplements: 17% of herbal weight loss nutraceuticals sold in UAE contain synthetic drugs

February 25 2022

Markets United Arab Emirates Organization FOOD navigator-asia.com Topic Alerts and recalls Food Safety and Security Additives, nutrition and organic foods An investigation into the adulteration of herbal weight loss supplements sold in the...

Markets United Arab Emirates
Organization FOOD navigator-asia.com
Topic Alerts and recalls
Food Safety and Security
Additives, nutrition and organic foods

An investigation into the adulteration of herbal weight loss supplements sold in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) found 17% of such products contain illegally added pharmaceuticals or prescription medicines, such sibutramine, phenolphthalein, or fluoxetine. These ingredients have many side effects, could be toxic and potentially fatal when taken without proper medical supervision. Of the 137 weight loss supplements available in UAE, most were in the form of capsules (63.5%), followed by tablets (22.6%), and tea bags (13.9%). Most of the supplements were made in US (48.9%), followed by EU (16.1%), China (5.1%), Malaysia (4.4%), India and UAE with 2.9% each, and Canada (2.2%). About 17.5% did not have a declared country of origin. In this study published in Molecules, it was also found that supplements with no country of origin is listed on the product was more likely to contain undeclared prescription drugs or chemicals (66.7%) compared to products where the country of origin is stated (7.1%).

Tags: alerts and recalls, Food Safety and Security

    

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