FDA warns about another
illegal stimulant in supplements
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[April 29, 2015]
By Toni Clarke
(Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration is warning companies to stop selling dietary supplements
that include a stimulant known as DMBA, the latest in a series of moves
to clamp down on potentially dangerous weight-loss and body-building
products.
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In an April 24 letter to one manufacturer, 1ViZN LLC, the agency
noted that its product Velocity listed AMP as a dietary ingredient.
AMP is also known as 1,3-Dimethylbutylamine, DMBA,
2-amino-4-methylpentane and methyl-2-pentanamine.
The FDA said it considered Velocity adulterated because there is not
enough information to provide reasonable assurance that DMBA is
safe.
Earlier this month the agency warned five companies to stop selling
dietary supplements containing a stimulant known as beta-methylphenylethylamine,
or BMPEA, which is often hidden in supplements containing Acacia
rigidula.
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The FDA actions come amid pressure from lawmakers and a Harvard
University academic, Dr. Pieter Cohen, who has been studying the
presence of synthetic stimulants in supplements.
"This is extremely welcome news," Cohen said. "Rather than waiting
until heart attacks, strokes or deaths are definitely linked to this
new designer stimulant, the FDA has now made it extremely clear to
manufacturers that there is no justification to sell DMBA in
supplements."
Last year Cohen published a study showing DMBA was present in 12
supplements marketed to improve athletic performance, increase
weight loss and enhance brain function. He also pointed out that
products containing BMPEA were still on the market a year after FDA
researchers discovered the stimulant in Acacia rigidula supplements.
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DMBA and BMPEA are similar to 1,3-dimethylamylamine, or DMAA, which
has already been banned by the FDA.
The FDA banned a stimulant known as ephedra in 2004. Since then,
companies have tried to replace it with other stimulants purported
to be natural.
"On closer review these 'natural' stimulants have turned out to be
nothing other than new, untested drugs," Cohen said.
(Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Ted Botha)
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