Ireland Calls DMAA 'Illegal Stimulant'

DUBLINThe Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) the Irish Medicines Board (IMB) issued a food alert warning consumers not to purchase supplements containing DMAA (1,3 -dimethylamylamine). The agencies said the warning  comes after a number of adverse reactions internationally related to products containing DMAA.

Sport, health stores and Irish-based companies were also advised to halt sales of food supplements or products containing DMAA.

They said DMAA is an illegal central nervous system stimulant related to amphetamine and has been found in food and sports supplements imported form the United States. "It can cause high blood pressure, nausea, cerebral hemorrhage, stroke and, in serious cases, can be fatal," the agencies said.

According to professor Alan Reilly, Chief Executive, FSAI, the substance is a stimulant, for which a safe level for human consumption has not been established. Reilly said several documented cases of severe negative effects on the heart and brain show the consumption of DMAA, especially in combination with caffeine, poses a significant risk to consumer health.

Food supplements or products containing DMAA are deemed to be unauthorized medicines, and therefore their supply is prohibited into and within Ireland," Reilly said. "The manufacturers and suppliers involved operate outside the approved system for manufacture and supply of food supplements/products and medicines. Seeking to purchase these types of products supplied as food supplements on the Internet is a risk to health."

They advised consumers not to purchase food supplements or products containing DMAA, and dispose of any additional food supplements/products listed below that they may have purchased. Further, if consumers are feeling ill effects after taking any of these food supplements/products, the agencies advised them to contact their doctor and retain/present the product in question.

The food alert listed eight known products that contain DMAA (Hemodrene, Hemorush , Crack,  Marrow Matters, Jack3d, Spriodex, Napalm and Lipo-6 Black), but noted that the list was not exhaustive.

The FSAI requested environmental health officers to check retail outlets to determine if food supplements or products containing DMAA are on sale.

The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently issued a similar warning, encouraging consumers who have purchased products containing DMAA to discard them. FSANZ said DMAA has been linked to various adverse health effects including high blood pressure and vomiting.

In the United States, FDA recently sent warning letters to 10 DMAA marketers questioning the products legality and safety, and in December 2011, the Department of Defense halted the sales of DMAA products within military facilities.