Last week, The Vitamin Shoppe announced that it would stop selling popular weight-loss and energy supplements that contain BMPEA, an amphetamine-like additive.
This announcement has stemmed from an agreement that The Vitamin Shoppe made with the Oregon Department of Justice (ODOJ), and it will mean that all of the retailer’s outlets and subsidiaries will pull BMPEA-containing products off of their shelves.
Commenting on this, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum stated in a recent press release:
The products that Vitamin Shoppe took off its shelves could pose very serious risks to consumers… These are nutritional supplements that have not been properly tested—and we don’t know what the long term consequences are of these products… I expect other retailers to follow Vitamin Shoppe’s lead and remove all products containing, or at risk of containing, BMPEA from their stores.
Background on BMPEA: A Look at the Risks
Created in 1930s as an alternative to amphetamine, BMPEA has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a “dietary ingredient.” This is because, as regulators have noted, this substance and its potential side effects on humans have not been studied.
Interestingly, at the end of 2014, the Canadian government banned BMPEA-containing products from being sold in the country, noting that BMPEA poses “a serious health risk.” In fact, the government’s statement regarding this ban specifically noted that, “amphetamine stimulants can increase blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature; lead to serious cardiovascular complications (including stroke) at high doses; suppress sleep and appetite, and be addictive.”
Impacted Products
According to a study conducted by an associated professor at Harvard Medical School, the following products once sold at The Vitamin Shoppe have been found to contain BMPEA:
- JetFuel Superburn
- JetFuel T-300 and MX-LS7
- Aro Black Series Burn
- Black Widow
- Dexaprine XR
- Fastin-XR
- Lipodrene Hardcore
- Lipodrene Xtreme
- Stimerex-ES
- Yellow Scorpion.
While The Vitamin Shoppe stores in Oregon have all reportedly pulled BMPEA-containing supplements from their shelves, they have been ordered by the ODOJ to preserve these supplements for an ongoing investigation. Should The Vitamin Shoppe violate its agreement with the ODOJ and start selling BMPEA-containing products again, it could face a $25,000 fine for each violation.
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