Do All Sex Supplements Contain Drugs

It seems that every week we hear about at least one "sexual performance" supplement being recalled because it contains an undeclared drug, and this has been going on for a long time. So far this week, we have already seen two such recalls. A Brooklyn company called Timeout Products is recalling their sexual enhancement product because it contains hydroxythiohomosildenafil (click here to see our story). This company's website also promotes products for arthritis and diabetes, clearly inappropriate claims. And yesterday we reported that a company called Natural Wellness issued its second recall of a product called MasXtreme this year for containing drug ingredients (click here to see our story). Is the entire category adulterated, and even if it's not, is it toxic for the supplement industry's reputation?

We have a Topic page dedicated to news about Adulteration (click here to see it). Note how many of these recalled, adulterated products are within the sexual performance category. There is clearly something going on here. I find it hard to believe that so many small companies are simultaneously getting ahold of these pharmaceutical ingredients and spiking their products with them. It seems more like to me that there is a common supplier (or a handful) providing the pre-mix or finished products to these companies. If that is the case, I hope that FDA and other agencies are trying to get to that source. Someone, somewhere is intentionally adulterating with these drugs and supplying it to the marketers.

As an industry, we have a responsibility to help put an immediate end to this illegal and dangerous practice. It seems that FDA should be able to determine where the material is coming from by looking at records from these companies found to be selling the adulterated product. So, why do they keep going after the individual marketers without taking down whoever is supplying the material? The drug ingredients have to be coming from somewhere. I think that the industry and its associations need to put pressure on the FDA and other law enforcement agencies to get to the bottom of this. These products are a giant blemish for the legitimate industry, and pose significant danger to consumers.