SINGAPORE: The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has warned members of the public against buying four products that were found to contain “potent medicinal ingredients”.
These ingredients included sibutramine, a weight loss substance banned in Singapore, as well as erectile dysfunction medicine tadalafil and steroids.
The affected products are ENRU PLUS+, HKT HERBA KURUS TRADISI, PILL HUA LUO CIN TAN and Spinach GINSENG HERB SUGAR.
ENRU PLUS+ and HKT HERBA KURUS TRADISI were marketed online as slimming products and carried labels claiming that they contained natural ingredients.
They caused adverse effects such as breathlessness and heart palpitations in three women, said HSA.
All four products were sold on local e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Lazada, Carousell and Qoo10 by sellers based in Singapore and Malaysia. ENRU PLUS+ was also marketed on Facebook.
HSA said it has worked with platform administrators to remove the affected listings and issued warnings to the respective sellers. It also alerted its Malaysian counterpart about these four products, which were sold in Malaysia or by Malaysia-based sellers.
BANNED SUBSTANCE IN SLIMMING PRODUCTS
Contrary to their claims of containing natural ingredients, HSA tests found both ENRU PLUS+ and HKT HERBA KURUS TRADISI to contain high levels of sibutramine.
HKT HERBA KURUS TRADISI also claimed to be “100% herbal” with “no banned substances”.
Sibutramine was a prescription-only weight loss medicine that has been banned in Singapore since 2010 due to an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Other reported serious effects include heart problems and central nervous system disorders such as psychosis and hallucinations.
HSA said a woman experienced breathlessness, heart palpitations and nausea while another had palpitations and dizziness after consuming ENRU PLUS+.
A third woman experienced severe insomnia and heart palpitations after consuming HKT HERBA KURUS TRADISI.