WASHINGTON, Nov 01 (Reuters Health) - US Marshals have seized about 140,000 bottles of a dietary supplement being sold for weight loss on the Internet at the request of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency announced on Wednesday.

The FDA said that it asked the US Marshals to seize the dietary supplements, marketed under the name AMP II Pro Drops, because they contained ephedrine hydrochloride (HCL), an ingredient prohibited from use in dietary supplements.

In 1948, ephedrine HCL was approved as a prescription drug and therefore cannot be legally marketed in the US as a dietary supplement, the FDA explained.

In addition, the FDA said that the manufacturer was attempting to sell the dietary supplement for the treatment of obesity, a claim that dietary supplements are forbidden to make under federal law.

"These products are also misbranded because their labeling fails to bear adequate directions for use as is required of all drug products," the FDA stated.

The manufacturer of the seized products is Biogenics of St. George, Utah, which was doing business under the name E'OLA International, according to the FDA.

The FDA said that it discovered the violation after an inspection of E'OLA revealed that the firm was purchasing ephedrine HCL as a raw ingredient and then shipping that ingredient to Nature's Energy Inc. of Pleasant Grove, Utah, to produce the dietary supplement under a contract manufacturing agreement. The finished product would be then shipped back to E'OLA for sale in the US, the FDA said.

The FDA added that the seized bottles and the bulk ingredients used to make the dietary supplement were valued at about $2.8 million.

At press time, the AMP II Pro Drops were still being marketed on the Internet. But a contact number for the Utah-based concern was not available.

Similarly, there was no listing for Nature's Energy Inc., the contract manufacturer.

http://www.reutershealth.com/archiv...101elin037.html
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Note - ephedrine HCL is a highly purified, lab-produced product ... and is not the same thing as ephedrA, or ma huang. Ephedra herb does contain naturally occurring ephedrine, among other active compounds. Check drumlib.com for information on both ephedra and ephedrine........ Doreen