Senate Dems call on FTC to investigate dietary supplements

Senate Democrats are calling on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate dietary supplements that claim to contain plant extracts known as Acacia rigidula.

In a letter to FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), said the manufacturers are listing the plant extract on product labels to mask the use of a dangerous synthetic stimulant known as BMPEA.

{mosads}“Scientists have described BMPEA as an alternative to amphetamines, which are potent central nervous system stimulants,” they wrote in the letter. “Amphetamines themselves have been attributed to a wide range of side effects, including increased blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature; serious cardiovascular complications, including stroke at high doses, suppressed sleep and appetite; and the potential to be addictive.”

Durbin and Blumenthal said there is evidence that A. rigidula supplements are not only being mislabeled but are deceptively advised.

They charged that the Georgia-based Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Inc. advertises the supplement Black Widow as being “so powerful, with its acacia rigidula and ephedra extracts, that all you need to take is one.”

BMPEA, according to the FDA, is a substance that does not meet the statutory definition of a dietary ingredient. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines a dietary ingredient as a vitamin, mineral, herb or other botanical, amino acid, dietary substance used to supplement a person’s diet.

BMPEA, the FDA said, is none of these.

In April, the agency issued warning letters to five companies — HiTech Pharmaceuticals Inc., Tribravus Enterprises LLC, Train Naked Labs LLC, Better Body Sports LLC and Human Evolution Supplements Inc. — for allegedly misbranding a total of eight products. The companies, the FDA said, listed BMPEA as a dietary ingredient on product labels.

While the FDA has issued warning letters for companies that disclose the use of BMPEA, Blumenthal and Durbin said it has done nothing about the products that deceptively label BMPEA as A. rigidula.

“It is critical at this juncture that the FTC also use its authority against unfair and deceptive acts and practices to protect consumers from any supplements containing BMPEA – including when the substance is misleadingly presented as an extract of A. rigidula,” they said in the letter.