A Hollywood company's dietary supplements promised herbal solutions to problems of weight loss and male sexual performance.
But the Food and Drug Administration says the supplement SlimXtreme contains a controversial obesity drug no longer sold in the United States because it raises the risk of heart attack and stroke, and ViaXtreme contains the active ingredient of Viagra.
Globe All Wellness LLC, located on Stirling Road in Hollywood, has received a warning letter from the FDA, saying the undeclared presence of these drugs constituted a violation of the law and giving the firm 15 business days to comply or face legal action.
Eran Hamami, the company's president, blamed counterfeit versions of the supplements. He said the company conducted its own laboratory tests of its supplements and did not find these drugs in them. Still, he said, the firm had initiated voluntary recalls of SlimXtreme and ViaXtreme and was cooperating with the FDA.
""We do care about our customers," he said. "Herbal means herbal, and we take that very seriously."
The company's web site markets SlimXtreme as "a proprietary blend of all-natural ingredients designed to lose weight fast and strongly increase your energy" and claimed it "has been proven to be the most efficient and safe weight loss solution on the market."
The site lists ingredients such as bitter orange, konjac root and lotus leaf. And it includes testimonials from satisfied customers such as "Jennifer" from Miami who said, "I just wanted to say thank you for the great product SlimXtreme, which made me lose 22 pounds in just one monthThank you and I will definitely do business with you again."
The FDA letter says laboratory tests found the product contained sibutramine hydrochloride, the active ingredient in an obesity drug that was withdrawn from the U.S. market in 2010.
"Sibutramine may pose serious health risks to consumers, including adverse health consequences such as heart attack, stroke, increased blood pressure, hallucinations, coma, and tachycardia for individuals with existing medical conditions," the letter states.
The web page for ViaXtreme claims it was "prepared exclusively from all-natural herbs and used for centuries to enhance sexual pleasure." Among these ingredients, it says is ginseng, Asiatic dogwood and horny goat weed.
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FDA warns Hollywood firm over 'herbal' sex, diet pills
