Ephedra
Update - Stacker 2 Products
December 4, 2003
Stacker 2 - Another Ephedra Casualty?
I was by no means surprised to hear from our partner
site today, that Stacker 2 (ephedra based) fat
burners are temporarily taken off the shelves due
to ephedra concerns. Surprise, Surprise!
Not really.
It seems its been ages since Xenadrine RFA-1 (one
of the most popular fat burners) that bit the dust
earlier this year (2003). Soon after that, the ever
popular Hydroxycut followed suit and "reformulated"
their formula and phased out ephedra - now they have
their "ephedrine free Hydroxycut". Just
last month, on November 13, 2003, another popular
ephedra based fat burner - Trimspa - announced that
its popular fat burner Trimspa ephedra version is
discontinued.
The list goes on: AST's Dymetadrine Xtreme, Twinlab's
ripped fuel, and more.
So why the mass exodus from ephedra? Health related
concerns, and recent FDA investigations and crack
down on ephedra based products. While ephedrine has
not been officially banned by the FDA, it's high up
on its hit list. Just yesterday (dec. 3, 2003) the
FDA paid a visit to our partner's warehouse, following
up a visit they made earlier this year regarding product
labeling of ephedra products. They have no problem
with the distributors, the beef is with the makers.
The FDA asked for voluntary discontinued sales of
3 ephedra products: Stacker 2 (20 cap and 100 cap
size), EAS Betatrim, and Alternative Pharmaceuticals
Thermbuterol. All 3 products contained epehdra.
This latest investigation has to do with products
labels. The FDA's position is that selling ephedra
products in the U.S. is still perfectly legal (as
long as proper label claims are being made and with
the exception of state level bans).
Ephedra Banned Eventually?
To me, with the latest developments in the fat burners
industry, I can't imagine ephedra being around for
too long before it gets banned for good by the FDA.
Which is no surprise really, consider that all the
top makers of fat burners have selectively phased
out ephedra from their most popular sellers - from
pressures within the industry, and all the frivolous
law suits rising out of ephedra use and abuse.
New Fat burners
With the phasing out of ephedra based fat burners,
a new wave of ephedra free, and some even stimulant
free fat burners have come on the market. Some more
notable ones include:
- Biotest's
Hot Rox, a new stimulant free fat burner that
makes good use of A7-E, similar to 7-keto DHEA.
- CLA
- not really a fat burner, but more of a dietary
supplement, without side effects, show effective
to help improving lean mass to fat ratio
- Lean
System 7 - using 7 Keto DHEA and some other
ingredients
- Zantrex
3 - heavy use of caffeine in its formula. You're
likely to get jitters from its use.
I can only speculate what's going to happen to ephedra,
but from where I'm sitting, I don't see ephedra being
around for much longer. ;-)
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