Supplement Ingredient or Drug?

Posted By elissa on Oct 1, 2010 | 2 comments

Since I’ve been in e-book-land, I’ve fallen a bit behind the times w/respect to bodybuilding supps and ingredients. But I’m starting to make up for lost time… I’m currently working on a review of iForce Nutrition Maximize V2, which is a pre-workout stimulant product. While digging through the list of ingredients, I discovered something interesting about one of them, methyl synephrine, which is also an ingredient in some fat burners, like Nutrex Research’s “Lipo-6 Black” and “Ignite” products.

The interesting bit is this class action lawsuit, filed in June, against Nutrex. According to Courthouse News Service:

PATERSON, N.J. (CN) – Nutrex advertises its dietary supplements as “all natural,” but uses drugs in them, including an amphetamine, which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, according to a class action in Passaic County Court. 
     …The class claims Nutrex pushes the products as “sports nutritional supplements” that “burn fat and allow people to lose weight … as a result of the cocktail of natural stimulants and other ingredients.”
     But the key ingredient in all the products is a substance called “methylsynephrine,” which is “another name for a prescription drug called Oxilofrine,” according to the complaint. It adds that Oxilofrine is “a stimulant drug of the amphetamine class” that was developed and “used to treat low blood pressure.”
     Oxilofrine “is a metabolite of methoxymethamphetamine,” commonly known as PMMA, which is “an illegal designer drug that is considered a banned substance in numerous countries” and has “been responsible for deaths of numerous people,” according to the complaint.
     The class claims that Oxilofrine “is considered a performance-enhancing drug” and “is classified as a banned substance by both the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency.”

Personally, I’d question the assertion that methyl synephrine is the “key ingredient” in these products, since there are other stimulant/thermogenic components in the Lipo-6 Black/Ignite formulas.  Nonetheless, it is also true that oxilofrine is a drug and a WADA (World Anti-Doping League)-banned substance, so it’s quite possible that Nutrex could be fighting a losing battle here.

A copy of the suit can be found on the Courthouse News Service site.