Dangerous Dietary Supplements Return to Store Shelves

The FDA frequently recalls dietary supplements that are found to contain banned substances. But a new study suggests that many of these products return to store shelves months later with the same dangerous ingredients.

The study, published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that out of more than two dozen supplements that were pulled from shelves after that were found to contain anabolic steroids or powerful prescription drugs, roughly two-thirds were back on the market a year later with the same illicit ingredients.
Most of the supplements were marketed for weight loss, exercise and sexual enhancement, and they were sold across the country at convenience stores, in health food shops and over the Internet. They were found to contain steroids and prescription drugs like Viagra and Prozac, an antidepressant.

The study also found that several of the weight-loss products contained Sibutramine, an amphetamine-like drug that was removed from the market in the US, Asia and Europe after a clinical trial showed it increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

In recent years, research has shown that herbal supplements such as echinacea, Ginkgo biloba and St. John’s wort are frequently mislabeled or diluted with cheap fillers like powdered rice.

Jennifer Dorren, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said that supplement companies “are legally responsible for marketing a safe product that is not adulterated.” But because companies do not need approval to sell their products, she said, the agency cannot identify tainted supplements before they reach consumers.