In December of 2008 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a warning about 42 tainted weight loss products. In the four months following the FDA has updated that list twice.
The list almost doubled in size in the four months following the first FDA warning. The list of tainted diet pills includes weight loss diet products that could pose a great risk to public health because they contain undeclared ingredients and, in some cases, contain prescription drugs in amounts that greatly exceed maximum recommended dosages. Many of the products in the FDA warning are marketed as “natural” or “herbal” products.
The FDA’s continuously growing list illustrates how weight loss pills often hide ingredients from regulators and why consulting a physician is so important in any weight loss program. A physician knows what weight loss pills have established track records and ingredient lists to make sure a weight loss program will be safe and effective. As the FDA’s list grows with no end in sight consulting a physician is the best way to avoid accidentally taking weight loss pills that become the target of the FDA’s warning list.