Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

An article in the April 25, 2005, edition of NaturalProducts Industry INSIDER erroneously stated a newlypublished technical report on the isomers found in bitter orange peel (Citrusaurantium) had concluded that constituents in bitterorange may cause adverse events. In fact, the authors of the cited reportmade no such determination but instead provided information on a new analyticalmethod designed to differentiate between various isomers of synephrinealkaloids.

As INSIDER reportedon Sept. 3, 2004, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has played anactive role in dispelling misinformation on bitter orange. That misperceptionarose when The New York Times andthe Los Angeles Times citedanonymous Food and Drug Administration (FDA) spokespersons in articles thatpurportedly identified adverse event reports (AERs) associated with productscontaining bitter orange. Our review of FDAs reports found all of theproducts that were referenced in these AERs included other ingredients, usuallyephedrine, caffeine or both. In other words, none of the AERs that weredisclosed by FDA to the Times couldbe considered as evidence that could reasonably link bitter orange itself to thereported adverse reactions.

There is, however, recent research that is directly relevantto the safety of bitter orange and that I encourage you to call to the attentionof your readers. A poster presented at the March 2005 Annual Conference of theAmerican Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics showed bitter orangealone in doses relevant to products in the market does not cause any increase inblood pressure (Haller CA et al. Synephrine pharmacokinetics andcardiovascular changes after ingestion of Citrusaurantium dietary supplements).

I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight on thesafety of bitter orange.

Sincerely,
Michael McGuffin, President
American HerbalProducts Association

Editors note: We appreciate Mr.McGuffin bringing this issue to our attention. Our original report suggestingthe new study focused on adverse events was incorrect, and that has beencorrected online.We regret any confusion in this matter.

INSIDER welcomes letters to the editor. Direct your commentsto Heather Granato, group editor, FAX (480) 990-0819, [email protected].Letters may be edited for content or clarity and do not necessarily representthe views of Virgo Publishing or INSIDER.