Dangerous Dietary Supplements – The unraveling of Enforcement
Posted by
Alyssa DiEdwardoFebruary 26, 2009 3:52 PM
According to data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), One in three, or 58 million American adults, aged 20 through 74 are overweight. So it should be no surprise that according to the Nutrition Business Journal, in 2007 out of the $24 billion dollars Americans spent on dietary supplements $1.7 billion went for weight loss supplements. In fact in a survey, 15% of Americans adults stated that they have used weight loss supplements and the majority did not inform their physician.
The big sellers in the industry are also no surprise; they include drugs for erectile dysfunction, diabetes, as well as obesity. The majority of these products are often labeled as “Dietary Supplements” or “Natural Supplements”, but what the public does not realize is that the FDA does not hold these manufacturers to the same standards as pharmaceuticals.
These products are highly susceptible to problems with efficacy, purity and contamination and spiking of undeclared substances. This is a supplement that has been in the headlines after it was found to have been spiked with the banned diuretic Bumetanide. This ingredient has been linked to electrolyte abnormalities, cardiovascular collapse, cardiac arrhythmias, heart attack, stroke and death. We should not forget is that this is not the first time StarCaps was found to have contained the banned substance. In 2007 a Lab in Tennessee tested StarCaps and it was found to have contained the same banned substance after several NFL players were suspended for failing a drug tests.
According to the FDA “Many of these products do not list the manufacturer on the label or in the advertisements. However, most of the products appear to have been manufactured in China.”
The FDA has now expanded the consumer warning and the list has grown over the last several weeks to over 69 products posted on the website as having contained undeclared and possible banned substances. Below is the link to the FDA site for the latest in this ongoing investigation.
In response to my recent Blog posted 2/26/09 titled “Dangerous Dietary Supplements – The unraveling of Enforcement”, We have received notification from attorneys for StarCaps that they have in fact issued a voluntarily recall of certain lot numbers which are posted on the FDA’s website, most recently updated 12/8/08. We have removed the references from the original blog posting, containing the incorrect information, and add this note for further clarification. For additional information on specific lot numbers that have been recalled we have provided the link to the FDA website below:
http://www.fda.gov/oc/po/firmrecalls/balancedhealth11_08.html
In addition a Press Release is posted the StarCaps website advising consumers that they have “temporarily suspended shipping of StarCaps pending the results of our (StarCaps) investigation” http://www.starcaps.com/