Singapore Testing Slimming Products for Undeclared Ingredients

Singapore Testing Slimming Products for Undeclared Ingredients

SINGAPORE--Singapore health officials are testing45 Chinese-made slimming products under the country's Poisons Act following thediscovery that a popular herbal weight-loss product, Slim 10, had beenadulterated after the product had been approved for sale. The pills weremade by Guangdong-based Yue Zhi Tang Health Manufacturing.

Reuters reported Singapore is also currently testing productsmade in the Western world for synthetic chemicals. The Health Sciences Authority(HSA) (www.hsa.gov.sg), which began thislegal action, did not say when it expected to complete the tests.

HSA advised China's citizens to stop taking Slim 10 after theagency found it contained fenfluramine, a pharmaceutical ingredient that theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) withdrew from the market in 1997. Slim10 also contained the undeclared ingredient nicotinamide, a derivative ofvitamin B3.