Emagrece Sim: Warning

The FDA has finally added its voice to the furore over the so-called Brazilian Diet Pills. The pills are named either Emagrece Sim or Herbathin. Whilst claiming to be made from all-natural herbal products - they are most definitely not dietary supplements.

Both products are made in Brazil by Fitoterapicos (also spelled Fytoterapicos) and Phytotherm Sim. FDA has increased its efforts to prevent the importation of these products by issuing an alert to its field personnel.

Dodgy Diet PillsAfter testing - the diet pills were found to contain any of the following:

* Chlordiazepoxide HCl (the active ingredient in Librium)
* Fluoxetine HCl (the active ingredient in Prozac)
* Fenproporex, a stimulant that is not approved for marketing in the United States. Fenproporex is converted in the body to amphetamine, and as a result has been noted to show up in urinalysis as a positive test for amphetamines.


It seems the two companies acting as importers for the pills will do their best to remain scarce:

The FDA said the pills are imported and distributed by two Florida companies, Emagrece Sim Laboratories Inc. of Miami, and EMIEX Corp. of Doral, Fla. No telephone listing for Emagrece Sim Laboratories Inc. could be found.

UPDATE (Jun 2006): Emagrece sim are still advertising their product in the US using Spanish radio.They claim that their products are FDA approved. This is not true.