PRESENCE OF DECLARED AND UNDECLARED CAFFEINE AND EPHEDRINE IN WEIGHT-LOSS HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS
MIRCEA DUMITRU CROITORU, IBOLYA FÜLÖP*, MĂDĂLINA ZAHARIA, ADRIANA MODROIU, LUCIANA ZECHERU, ERZSÉBET FOGARASI
University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Tîrgu Mureş, Târgu Mureş, Romania
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Many so called natural herbal supplements are available worldwide as weight loss aid. The quality of these products is not controlled by any authority and sometimes adulterants as caffeine, ephedrine and many others were found in such products. Sometimes negative health outcomes were associated with the use of this type of slimming pills. 20 products were bought from shops selling herbal supplements and organic products to be checked for the presence of caffeine and ephedrine. Caffeine appeared on the label of only two products, but was present in 8 of the 20 tested products (7.5 - 90 mg/dose). Most of the time, presence of caffeine is hidden under the name of guarana, Yerba mate and cocoa extract. Presence of ephedrine or ephedra was not mentioned on any product's label, but it was present in significant amounts in 3 products (31 - 90 mg/dose). Results showed that the release to population of food supplements should be regulated in order to avoid negative health outcomes associated with the use of such products.
