Tested Diet Pills

No matter how many times they say that miracle cures do not exist, women buy any product that promises quick weight loss. The least of the problems is if the product is worthless; worse is if we experience side effects such as increased heart rate, high blood pressure, insomnia, or even sudden outbursts of anger and circulatory collapse. These are, of course, not caused by cactus extract or L-carnitine, but rather by active ingredients that are included in the product without "forgetting" to list them on the side of the box. If someone has cardiovascular problems, they could even be in a life-threatening condition due to seemingly harmless weight-loss pills. Professionals and authorities are aware of many such cases, yet no investigation is conducted due to flawed regulations. Arrogant jerks who think they're smarter order drugs no longer available in Hungary from America and Canada, but packages from abroad are checked by customs, and in such cases, they are indeed held back. In Hungary, 1-2 percent of products found on the pharmaceutical market are estimated to be counterfeit. The most sought-after are lifestyle-related products (potency enhancers, weight loss drugs, bodybuilding supplements), but nowadays, oncology, cardiovascular drugs, and antibiotics are also widespread. The illegal market targets anything expensive, in demand, and difficult to access. A large part of the drugs marketed this way are, of course, fake or contaminated. Most distributors claim that the product is not counterfeit but original or stolen, but in recent years, there have only been a few reports from Western Europe of large drug shipments disappearing, partly because pharmaceutical warehouses are very well guarded...

The Test

To see if drugs purchased online are indeed fake, we bought several types. We also included a dietary supplement that many forums claimed contained medicinal substances despite supposedly having only herbal ingredients. The analysis was conducted at the Institute of Pharmacognosy at the University of Szeged. We asked them to determine the active ingredients and their quantities in the drugs and dietary supplements.

Even we were shocked by the results. The website for the SuperSlim dietary supplement, distributed by Nat.Farm Slim Kft, appears convincing. Their product is approved by the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Science (OÉTI), and to gain trust, they even posted the WESSLING Hungary laboratory's test report on their website. This report lists for several pages what was found in the tested product. The problem is that the company had pesticides tested, and there was indeed very little of that in the capsules. Wessling, of course, bears no responsibility in the matter; they tested what they were asked to. We obtained the dietary supplement from a pharmacy. However, the green-and-white capsules, supposedly containing fruit extract, held more than just walnuts, apples, and kiwis. The product, analyzed by the Institute of Pharmacognosy at the University of Szeged's Faculty of Pharmacy, contained 17.76 mg of sibutramine. This active ingredient reduces appetite, quickly induces a feeling of fullness, and increases heat production. In principle, it would be a very good substance if it didn't, in some cases, cause cardiovascular diseases (stroke, heart attack), increase blood pressure, and cause mood swings as side effects. Furthermore, its use is strictly prohibited with many medications due to interactions. Precisely because of these side effects, the EU's pharmaceutical authority recommended the withdrawal of sibutramine-containing drugs from the market at the end of January 2010. Hungary complied with this.

If that wasn't enough, the active ingredient content of SuperSlim exceeds the active ingredient quantity of products previously marketed as prescription drugs. We also contacted the representative of Nat.Farm Slim Kft, who, in response to our inquiry, stated that they definitely do not distribute any product containing sibutramine. He also confirmed this with a test report from last December. The composition of the product examined by Wessling and the product we purchased at a pharmacy and immediately sent to the lab certainly did not match at one point: sibutramine.

In addition, three other products were examined in Szeged that were never registered as drugs in Hungary. We ordered the drugs online from several vendors. The ZenSlim 15mg preparation contained 10.36 mg of sibutramine, and Slim Trim contained 11.54 mg. Adipex retard (which contains a different active ingredient) contained an unknown amount of phentermine. The distribution of these is, of course, prohibited, but just like us, others can easily get their hands on the product. Krisztina Székely, head of the anti-drug counterfeiting unit of the National Anti-Counterfeiting Body (HENT), asked the Ministry of National Resources a year and a half ago to tighten the regulations. Currently, dietary supplements are subject to extremely lenient regulations; distributors essentially only have a notification obligation, meaning they must submit documentation to the National Institute for Food and Nutrition Science (OÉTI) if they want to market such a product. However, OÉTI does not actually examine the given product, and it is enough to submit the application one day before distribution. HENT wants to achieve that the list of ingredients and a sample must be submitted at least 30 days before distribution so that it can be analyzed in advance, Krisztina Székely of HENT told Velvet.

In 2010, the Institute of Pharmacognosy at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Szeged, examined several dietary supplement potency enhancers. Out of the 53 products touted as potency enhancers, 10 were highlighted as potentially containing something other than herbal ingredients, meaning they were contaminated with pharmaceutical active ingredients. Of the 10 products examined, 9 had OÉTI approval. Of these, 5 contained active ingredients found in prescription drugs for erectile dysfunction. There was even one product that contained the active ingredients of all three drugs used for erectile dysfunction, though the effect was not attributed to these but to the combination of Eleuthero ginseng root, Rhodiola root, hawthorn fruit, lemon balm, and lavender flower.

As a result of the investigation, the only change made by OÉTI was that for potency-enhancing products, the manufacturer must provide a certificate proving the exact composition of the product, along with a test report issued by an independent laboratory, to verify the product's composition and that it does not contain any ingredients harmful to the consumer. However, this new rule applies only to potency enhancers; there are still no regulations for weight loss or other lifestyle products. All the vendors we interviewed said they were not afraid of the police or other authorities because they couldn't catch them, and even if they did, the penalty was negligible. Some websites are on foreign servers, but we found many that don't even bother with that. Several people complained that the State Secretariat for Health of the Ministry of National Resources had not changed the regulations, even though control is practically non-existent.

In response to our inquiry, Kornélia Fentős, press officer for NEFMI, stated that "The parts of the draft legislation relating to the notification of dietary supplements are still under revision, and we expect to send the decree to the European Commission for notification procedures this semester. Strict regulation is warranted because these products, which can pose health risks in some cases, are becoming increasingly popular and are present in growing numbers on the market. These include, for example, products recommended for potency enhancement or performance enhancement, but also weight loss products. Almost all of the substances used in these qualify as pharmaceutical active ingredients, so their use in food processing is not permissible under any circumstances."

Source: Velvet.hu