HSA Warns About 3 Products Sold Online in S’pore That Contain Banned Ingredients

I’m going to keep it real here.

Circuit breaker and Phase One definitely made me fatter.

Lack of reason to go out and motivation to exercise definitely saw the weighing scale numbers increase.

A person or two even jokingly suggested some weight loss pills if I was lazy and I laughed it off.

Then I had to write today’s article and threw that idea away completely.

Banned Ingredients

I’m not even sure how some of these were allowed.

According to CNA, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) issued an alert on 22 June about three weight loss products that were found to have potent medicinal ingredients.

Sibutramine, one such banned substance, was found in ‘Clinic K’ and ‘RO Slim Booster’.

Image: Health Sciences Authority
Image: Health Sciences Authority

The third product known as ‘Rozell Detox” contained a potent laxative called sennoside.

Image: Health Sciences Authority

These were sold on popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Carousell and Qoo10. You can even find them on Facebook and Instagram.

And if you’re wondering how bad these extra ingredients can be well…

Let’s just say bad enough to hospitalise or at least seriously make you ill.

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Scary Side Effects

I assure you that all of this is real and confirmed by the HSA.

Some consumers who took Clinic K experienced extreme thirst, rapid heartbeat, dizziness and loss of appetite.

This is because overuse of sibutramine can lead to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

The use of it was also banned in 2010 in Singapore for reasons you’d probably understand by now.

Image: Tenor

A woman in her 40s experienced a rapid heartbeat, dizziness and breathlessness after taking the product for two days.

Even when she cut the dosage, the symptoms persisted and she just stopped entirely.

And do you know what makes it worse?

The product is even marketed to say that these side effects will happen.

Which means if you feel the side-effects, you might just push through it because it’s “normal”.

Image: Tenor

The company also markets itself as a company that only sells stuff with ‘natural ingredients’.

And remember, this is only one of the products so far.

Image: Giphy

People who took Rozell Detox experienced profuse sweating and rapid heart rate.

Keep in mind: the guys who made this also touted natural ingredients like fruit powder and fruit extracts.

I’m sensing a pattern here.

Other sennoside effects could also include nausea, diarrhoea and abdominal pain amongst a list of other things.

Advising Against Product Use

Things aren’t looking too great for people who use these.

HSA even advised people to stop taking the products entirely and to see a doctor for health concerns.

Currently, work is being done to take the product down from the mentioned online platforms.

They’re treating this so seriously that Interpol was alerted alongside counterparts in Korea about Clinic K.

Image: memegenerator.net

Authorities in Malaysia were also contacted over Rozell Detox and RO Slim Booster.

According to HSA’s website, those caught and convicted may be imprisoned for up to 2 years and/or fined up to $10000.

I guess that’s one more thing off my shopping list, forever.

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