Sixty-nine Diet Pills Recalled by the FDA

With the holidays and now Super Bowl Sunday behind us, many Americans will be looking for ways to shed those extra pounds, and many impatient and frustrated individuals will forego the recommendations of diet modification and exercise as a healthy and safe way to lose weight, and turn to diet pills. And after all, for the millions of Americans that watch television daily, it is difficult to avoid an onslaught of advertising by the weight loss industry. Most recently, the diet pill Alli, has recruited country singer/celebrity Wynonna Judd to act as spokesperson for their product. And interestingly enough, the most highlighted selling point in these ads is not the number of pounds that can be lost or the short amount of time it takes, the key point is the fact that Alli is currently the only FDA approved over the counter diet pill available. Whether or not Alli is truly safe or effective, the marketing team behind this product has created a smart and timely campaign. The recent peanut product recall gives consumers even more reason to question the effectiveness of the FDA, and look to their new President to improve the agency, by creating stricter regulations. Under current guidelines, the FDA does not require any clinical trials before over the counter diet pills are made available in stores. Although some are petitioning for this to change, the FDA has issued warnings to consumers to be careful of diet pills. Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients in these types of products have been found to far exceed the FDA-recommended levels, putting consumers' health at risk. On December 22, 2008, FDA warned consumers not to purchase or consume 28 different products marketed for weight loss. Since that time, FDA analysis has identified 41 more tainted weight loss products that may put consumers’ health at risk.

With the holidays and now Super Bowl Sunday behind us, many Americans will be looking for ways to shed those extra pounds, and many impatient and frustrated individuals will forego the recommendations of diet modification and exercise as a healthy and safe way to lose weight, and turn to diet pills. And after all, for the millions of Americans that watch television daily, it is difficult to avoid an onslaught of advertising by the weight loss industry.

Most recently, the diet pill Alli, has recruited country singer/celebrity Wynonna Judd to act as spokesperson for their product. And interestingly enough, the most highlighted selling point in these ads is not the number of pounds that can be lost or the short amount of time it takes, the key point is the fact that Alli is currently the only FDA approved over the counter diet pill available.
Whether or not Alli is truly safe or effective, the marketing team behind this product has created a smart and timely campaign. The recent peanut product recall gives consumers even more reason to question the effectiveness of the FDA, and look to their new President to improve the agency, by creating stricter regulations.

Under current guidelines, the FDA does not require any clinical trials before over the counter diet pills are made available in stores. Although some are petitioning for this to change, the FDA has issued warnings to consumers to be careful of diet pills. Some of the amounts of active pharmaceutical ingredients in these types of products have been found to far exceed the FDA-recommended levels, putting consumers' health at risk. On December 22, 2008, FDA warned consumers not to purchase or consume 28 different products marketed for weight loss. Since that time, FDA analysis has identified 41 more tainted weight loss products that may put consumers’ health at risk.

The FDA analysis found that the undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients in some of these products include sibutramine (a controlled substance), rimonabant (a drug not approved for marketing in the United States), phenytoin (an anti-seizure medication), phenolphthalein (a solution used in chemical experiments and a suspected cancer causing agent) and bumetanide (a diuretic). These ingredients may cause high blood pressure, seizures, heart attack, or stroke. Many of these products are sold online as natural or containing only herbal ingredients, a statement that can mislead consumers as to their safeness.

Below is a link to a complete list of diet pills that have been recalled by the FDA. But it is most important to remember, the researchers, doctors, and nutritionists can all confidently agree that in order to sustain healthy weight loss, the most effective approach is eating smaller portions, maintaining a healthy balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fiber and getting exercise regularly.

For a complete list of recalled diet pills visit this site: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2008/NEW01933.html