WASHINGTON--ATF Fitness Products Inc. of Oakmont, Pa., voluntarily recalled a product it was distributing that contained tiratricol, a thyroid hormone that may cause insomnia, nervousness, sweating, diarrhea, stroke or heart attacks The product, BioPharm brand T-Cuts, was only on the market for 10 days before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked ATF to issue the recall.

This is not the first tiratricol product recall for ATF. On Sept. 12, 2000, the company recalled a similar product that it had manufactured called Sci-Fi-Tri-Cuts Dietary Supplement Capsules. T-Cuts, which ATF was distributing, was made by Phoenix-based Golden Desert Manufacturing (GDM), which was supplied tiratricol by Sarasota, Fla.-based Integrity Chemicals International.

Mary Vercellotti, the administrative manager for ATF, stated that she was unaware that tiratricol was banned by FDA. "The company that sold us this product was told by an FDA official that this was not a banned supplement. However, when FDA found out we were selling the product, it made us stop selling the T-Cuts immediately. We're still trying to figure out why this misunderstanding happened."

ATF is a member of the National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA), a trade organization that had first notified its members about FDA's tiratricol warning in 1999. "As NNFA has previously stated, if certain products are considered or found to be harmful, retailers who continue to sell those products are risking legal liability," said David Seckman, NNFA executive director and chief executive officer.

Meanwhile, the 2,400 T-Cut products ATF had bought will be destroyed by the company, which is out the money it paid GDM, according to Vercellotti. To date, there have been no reported illnesses from taking this product, although consumers are advised to stop using tiratricol-containing products immediately. When GDM was reached in regard to this recall, it had no comment.

However, FDA is firm about where it stands on this issue. "People in the natural products industry need to know that tiratricol is not a dietary supplement but an unapproved new drug," said a spokesperson from FDA.