Adulteration of Dietary Supplements by the Illegal Addition of Synthetic Drugs: a review

In the last few years, the consumption of dietary supplements, especially those having plants as ingredients, has been increasing due to the common idea that they are natural products posing no risks to human health. In the European Union and the United States, dietary supplements are legally considered as foods/special category of foods, thus are not being submitted to any safety assessment prior to their commercialization. Among the issues that can affect safety, adulteration by the illegal addition of pharmaceutical substances or their analogs is of major concern since unscrupulous producers can falsify these products to provide for quick effects and to increase sales. This review discusses the various classes of synthetic drugs most frequently described as being illegally added to dietary supplements marketed for weight loss, muscle building/sport performance and sexual performance enhancement. Information regarding regulation and consumption is also presented. Finally, several conventional and advanced analytical techniques used to detect and identify different adulterants in dietary supplements and therefore also in foods, with particular emphasis on plant food supplements, are critically described. This review demonstrates that dietary supplement adulteration is an emerging food safety problem and that an effective control by food regulatory authorities is needed to safeguard consumers.This work was supported by European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE) and Natl. Funds (FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) through projects EXPL/DTP-SAP/1438/2013 (Safety of plant food supplements: searching for adulterant pharmaceutical drugs and plants) and LAQV UID/QUI/50006/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparing Medicinal Plants Use for Traditional and Modern Herbal Medicine in Long Nah Village of East Kalimantan

The purpose of this research is to describe theequivalence of local knowledge and scientific knowledgeor western knowledge in terms of medicinal plantusage for traditional medicine (TM) or ethnomedicineand modern herbal medicine or jamu (MM), and therecognition of both. This descriptive-comparative researchwas accomplished using the case study method.The research used participant observation and semistructuredinterview techniques to collect data andinformation from traditional healers, communityleaders, and villagers. The research results show thaton the one hand, local people particularly traditionalhealers (dukun) have developed knowledge of medicinalplants and TM compounds. This knowledgehas been based on the existence of illnesses in thecommunity and availability of medicinal plants in theirenvironment. On the other hand, rural communityhas known, acknowledged, and consumed MM as acomplement to TM produced by traditional healers(dukun). Comparison of medicinal plants used for TMand MM is not appropriate to prove the equivalenceof local knowledge and scientific knowledge, becausedifferent plant species mayhave the same efficacy. Onthe other hand, different local communities may usedifferent plants with similar efficacy for TM. Likewise,different MM industries may use different plants forMM to have the same efficacy

Sexual enhancement products for sale online : raising awareness of the psychoactive effects of Yohimbine, Maca, Horny Goat Weed and Ginkgo Biloba

Copyright © 2014 Ornella Corazza et al.This is an open access article distributed under theCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedIntroduction. The use of unlicensed food and herbal supplements to enhance sexual functions is drastically increasing. This phenomenon, combined with the availability of these products over the Internet, represents a challenge from a clinical and a public health perspective. Methods. A comprehensive multilingual assessment of websites, drug fora, and other online resources was carried out between February and July 2013 with exploratory qualitative searches including 203 websites. Additional searches were conducted using the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN). Once the active constitutes of the products were identified, a comprehensive literature search was carried out using PsycInfo and PubMed. Results. The most common sexual enhancement products available on the Internet were identified. Their active ingredients included yohimbine, maca, horny goat weed and Ginkgo biloba. These four substances were reported with the occurrence of adverse events and the induction of psychological symptoms, such as mood changes, anxiety, and hallucinations as well as addictive behaviours. Conclusions. Uncontrolled availability of sexual enhancement products that contain potentially harmful substances is a major public healthconcern.Thepossible impact on population health, particularly among subjects with psychiatric disorders, usually at risk for sexual dysfunction, may be significant. This new trend needs to be extensively studied and monitoredPeer reviewedFinal Published versio

Analysis of food supplement with unusual raspberry ketone content

In recent years food supplement market increased constantly, including slimming products and against obesity. The case of rasberry ketone (RK) is here reported. HPTLC and HPLC-DAD analyses on a marketed product containing raspberry juice evidenced an abnormal quantity of RK, not in accordance with the juice natural content. The reported data confirm the need of adequate controls on marketed food supplements and the necessity of a complete adherence between labelling and real constitution of the product. Practical Applications: Determining the natural origin and assuring the consumers' safety for raspberry-based food supplement

Of Junk Food and Junk Science

The popular press has triumphantly announced that the cause of the obesity epidemic is “junk food.†After a moment’s reflection, however, it seems likely that the true causal structure of the obesity epidemic can be neither single-equation nor univariate. Therefore, while the hypothesis that “junk food†is the cause of obesity has little a priori plausibility, these articles in the popular press present a testable hypothesis that, in spite of some measurement impossibilities, is tested here. While one can always argue about p values etc., it is safe to say that the results show no evidence to indicate support for a causal link. The second section of the paper explains this result and suggests a rudimentary structural model of obesity that begins to address the issues of specification error, simultaneity, etc., that plague much of the obesity research. This model shows that because of the dynamic nature of weight status, there is no necessary reason to expect to find a statistical relation between a person’s observed weight and the amount he or she is currently eating or exercising. Therefore, studies which regress weight, obesity, or the probability of obesity on eating and exercise patterns have serious specification error. Further development of structural econometric models of obesity may lead to consistent estimates of the partial effects of exogenous variables on obesity levels. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for policy development and industry.obesity, junk food, Granger-causality, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession, Q10, Q16,

In vitro larvicidal effect of a hydroalcoholic extract from Acacia cochliacantha leaf against ruminant parasitic nematodes

Larvicidal effect was evaluated using acacia cochliacantha leafThe aim of this study was to evaluate the in vitro lethal effect of a hydroalcoholic extract (HAE) from Acacia cochliacantha leaf against three gastrointestinal nematodes species (Haemonchus contortus, H. placei and Cooperiapunctata) of domestic ruminants. The HAE was assessed using five concentrations: 100, 125, 175, 150 and 200 mg/ml; 0.5% Ivermectin was used as a positive control and distilled water, as negative control. The data were normalized using the square root and analysed with a completely randomized design through ANOVA analysis using the general linealmodel (GLM) of the SAS program. The HAE tannin conten was determined through spectrophotometry (UV-visible) and the other major phenols, were identified by chromatographic processes. The results showed an in vitro larvicidal activity of the HAE against the three assessed nematode species with all assessed concentrations. A clear HAE increased concentration dependence effect was observed. The highest activity of the HAE was obtained at the highest concentration (close to 100%, P < 0.05). This result was similar to the one obtained with Ivermectin. On the other hand, the chemical analysis of HAE showed the presence of tannins, caffeoyls and coumaroyl derivates and quercetin as the main compounds. The results suggest that the HAE from this plant species pos- sess in vitro anthelmintic properties. The identified com- pounds in this study would good candidates for further in vivo researches.This study received financial support from CONACYT-Mexico (Project number 251244), INIFAP (Project number 9454133183, through the Researcher Retaining Program)