Recalled Dietary Supplements: Still Available, Still Adulterated

The FDA recently has recalled nearly 300 dietary supplements because of contamination or purposeful adulteration with potentially dangerous drugs (primarily stimulants and anabolic steroids). Many of these branded supplements now are available commercially — but are they still tainted?

Investigators selected 27 supplements subjected to class I recall (reasonable possibility of serious adverse events or death) and available for sale ≥6 months later (mean, 34 months) with the same names, manufacturers, and distributors. Pharmaceutical adulterants were identified in two thirds of all samples, including 11 of 13 supplements for sports enhancement (2 of which had been recalled twice), 6 of 9 for weight loss, and 1 of 5 for sexual enhancement. The…