List of banned slimming or antiobesity products in the Philippines

Hokkaido Slimming Pills

Anti-obesity or slimming products are rampantly sold in the Philippine market, especially in online stores which are highly accessible to the public.  Apart from the convenience that consumers get when they purchase online, the considerably cheaper prices of these products lure customers.  Furthermore, some online sellers can easily deceive the public by using fake advertising, to an extent of using celebrities and famous personalities without their consent, or post bogus testimonials from alleged successful users. Women, who are the main targets of these products, are especially vulnerable.

Some of these products may pose health risks to consumers as they may contain amphetamine, sibutramine and steroids.  The Food and Drug Administration or FDA has monitored several of these slimming or antiobesity products being sold online and marketed as oral capsules or as coffee drinks.  The FDA has already recalled and banned at least 26 of these products from 2010 to 2012.

Some of the FDA-banned products are

• Ballet Dancer Fat Reducing
• Bio-Lissom Fat Reducing
• Brazilian Slimming Coffee
• Cell Life Slimming Coffee
• Elegant Shape Fat Reducing
• Goodliness Fat Reducing
• Happyslim
• Leisure 18 Slimming Coffee
• Lightness Fat Reducing
• Maggie Fitness Essence
• Mei Shen Ting Anti-Obesity
• Modeling Fat-Reducing
• New Original Lightness Fat-Reducing
• Pearl White Slimming
• Perfect Figure Slimming
• Perfect Slim Fat Reduction Cosmetic
• Perfect Slim Purely Natural Fat Reduction Cosmetic
• Pill for Weight Reduction
• Pretty Model
• Qiaomei Fat Binder
• Qi Xian Nu
• Seven Days Miracle
• Shaping Body Fat Loss
• Slim and Beauty Slimming
• Slim Up Extra Whitening and Reducing
• Xianzimei Fat Reduction
• Hokkaido Slimming Pills 

Amphetamine, a potent central nervous stimulant and is the parent compound of metamphetamine (street name: Shabu), causes irregular heartbeat, confusion, urine retention and painful urination, hyperthermia (elevated body temperature due to failed thermoregulation), hyperreflexia (overactive or overresponsive reflexes), muscle pain, severe agitation, rapid breathing, and tremor.  Large overdose, however, may produce symptoms such as psychosis, anuria (nonpassage of urine), cardiogenic shock, cerebral hemorrhage, circulatory collapse, extreme fever, pulmonary hypertension, renal failure, rapid muscle breakdown, serotonin syndrome, and stereotypy.  Fatal amphetamine poisoning usually involves convulsion and coma.

Sibutramine has been shown in a well-designed study to increase the risk of serious heart events, including non-fatal heart attack or non-fatal stroke and death, by 16% in a group of patient given sibutramine compared with another group given the placebo.  The study also showed that there was only a small difference in weight loss between the placebo group and the sibutramine group.

The FDA hereby advised the public to refrain from buying unregistered and banned health products online.

To ensure that a health product is legitimate, one can check if it is registered with the FDA.  Log in at the FDA webiste (wwww.fda.gov.ph) and type in the name of the product in the SEARCH bar.  To report any unregistered or banned health products, please email report@fda.gov.ph.

All consumers are advised to use only FDA-approved slimming pills or anti-obesity drugs under the supervision of doctors.

All FDA inspectors are hereby ordered to seize unregistered slimming products or those containing amphetamine, sibutramine and steroids from all outlets or establishments where they are found, sold or offered for sale or use.

All local government units and enforcement agencies are urged to close down outlets and establishments that sell banned or unregistered health products.  Likewise, the FDA appeals to the Bureau of Customs to prevent the entry of banned products in the Philippine market.

For more information or clarifications, kindly email  info@fda.gov.ph