Adulteration of Weight Loss Supplements by the Illegal Addition of Synthetic Pharmaceuticals.

Ammar A Jairoun,Moyad Shahwan,Sa’Ed H Zyoud,Sabaa Saleh Al-Hemyari

doi:10.3390/molecules26226903

Abstract

Weight loss supplements that have illegal additives of pharmaceutical drugs or analogues have additional health risks, and customers may not be aware of what they are taking. This research is an essential investigation and quantification of illegally added pharmaceuticals or prescription medications, specifically fluoxetine, phenolphthalein, and sibutramine, in herbal weight loss supplements offered for sale in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In this case, 137 weight loss supplements were collected and analyzed in this study. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with UV absorption detection coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC-MS/MS) analyses were used to determine the presence of the pharmaceutical chemicals. Among the weight loss supplements, 15.3% (95% CI: 9.2–21.4) contained undeclared sibutramine, 13.9% (95% CI: 8.01–19.7) contained undeclared phenolphthalein, and 5.1% (95% CI: 1.4–8.8) contained undeclared fluoxetine. Amongst all weight loss supplements, 17.5% (95% CI: 11.07–24) contained significant concentrations of either sibutramine, phenolphthalein, or fluoxetine. Whilst weight loss herbal supplements offered for sale in the UAE have relatively low percentages of undeclared pharmaceuticals, many people take several different supplements daily and may encounter quite high levels of combined exposure to toxic compounds.

Highlights

Excess weight or obesity is a serious public health problem for adults worldwide
The primary aim of this research was to investigate whether nutraceuticals offered for weight loss in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are adulterated with pharmaceutical chemicals or prescription drugs
Research by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA showed that 572 dietary supplements were found to have been adulterated using pharmaceutical chemicals not listed as ingredients (228 of these were sold as weight loss products) in the years 2007 to 2014 [30]

Summary

Introduction

Excess weight or obesity is a serious public health problem for adults worldwide. In the 2018 global estimates by the World Health Organization, over 1.9 billion adults (39%)in 2017 were regarded as overweight [1]. Excess weight or obesity is a serious public health problem for adults worldwide. In the 2018 global estimates by the World Health Organization, over 1.9 billion adults (39%). In 2017 were regarded as overweight [1]. It has been predicted that the 2020 figures will show an increase to 60% [2]. Obesity plays a central role in numerous health conditions, including heart disease, stroke, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, erectile dysfunction, type. When weight loss supplements are adulterated, there are two general motivations for the adulteration. A cheaper ingredient replaces more expensive ingredients claimed on the label. An active drug will be added to an allegedly botanical supplement, e.g., sibutramine might be added to a weight loss supplement that claims to be purely “natural

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