Diet food actually contains
Sibutramine, furosemide, spironolactone and other stimulants
Severely may cause
Fall, shock, death
…
March 15
Hubei Yichang police issued a notice saying
Yichang City Public Security Bureau Public Security Detachment, Wujiagang District Public Security Branch, etc.
Multi-police linkage
Cracked the country’s first production and sales
The case of toxic and harmful food containing stimulant substances
Diet food contains stimulants
According to consumer Ms. Zhang, in March 2021, through a friend’s introduction, she spent more than 1,000 yuan to buy a weight-loss food package at a WeChat business, which was matched with 4 weight-loss health foods for mixed consumption.
The picture shows an advertisement for a WeChat Moments business selling diet food. Photo by Jiang Yali
After receiving the product, Ms. Zhang took it strictly according to the instructions. Unexpectedly, symptoms such as diarrhea, headache, and general malaise occurred frequently. After drinking a lot of water and rest, the condition improved slightly.
After repeating this several times, Ms. Zhang believed that there was a problem with the diet food and asked for a return and a refund. The negotiation failed, and she was “blocked” by the business.
The more she thought about it, the more angry she became, so she reported the case to the Yichang police. The police told her that a number of similar reports had been received and an investigation was underway.
It turned out that the Yichang City Public Security Bureau had previously identified the clue: a number of women in the city’s urban areas had seen related advertisements on the Internet, and after taking similar diet food, they felt unwell and had to be hospitalized for serious treatment.
After the case-handling police took samples of the product, it was sent to a professional institution for inspection, and the results were shocking. Among them, many diet foods contain sibutramine, furosemide, spironolactone and other ingredients.
The picture shows the raw materials for the suspect Luo to produce toxic and harmful diet food. Photo by Jiang Yali
The evaluation opinion issued by experts from the School of Medicine of Three Gorges University pointed out that sibutramine, furosemide and spironolactone may have adverse reactions such as dry mouth, constipation, diarrhea, insomnia, headache, blurred vision, depression and other adverse reactions when used alone. The risk of reaction is significantly increased, especially when the dosage of furosemide is large, which can easily lead to low blood pressure, insufficient blood supply, dizziness, and in severe cases, may lead to falls, shock, and death.
In medicine, sibutramine, furosemide, and spironolactone are prescription drugs, which require medical advice. These three substances are listed as stimulants in the 2021 Stimulant Catalog.
It costs only a few cents
The evidence was conclusive, and the Yichang police immediately decided to close the net.
On the morning of March 11, 2021, the Wujiagang District Public Security Bureau dispatched more than 30 police officers to raid two dens in Heyi Road and Yiling District, Wujiagang District, and arrested the suspects Chen’s sisters on the spot. There are more than 20 kinds of weight loss products, including more than 13,000 bags of medicines and more than 24,000 capsules and tablets.
The police investigation found that from the end of 2019 to March 2021, the Chen sisters knew that more than 20 kinds of diet food including “heart-shaped tablet candy”, “Hua Qingzhuo” and “review tablet candy” contained sibutramine. , furosemide, spironolactone and other toxic and harmful non-food raw materials that are expressly prohibited by the state are still sold through online channels. The sales of the two sisters reached more than 1.43 million yuan and 340,000 yuan respectively.
The picture shows the poisonous and harmful diet food seized by Yichang police. Photo by Jiang Yali
After being arrested, according to the account of their sister Chen, when they started selling, they knew that it contained prohibited ingredients, and they would experience dizziness, diarrhea and other adverse reactions after eating.
The police investigation found that the Chen sisters also need to lose weight and lose weight, but they never eat the toxic and harmful diet food they sell, but seek regular manufacturers to buy them.
The police also found that the Chen sisters’ sales of such toxic and harmful foods are huge profits, and the cost of a few cents a piece of products becomes more than ten yuan a piece in the hands of consumers.
Selling online as a slimming product
When dealing with food safety cases, the Yichang police have always maintained a zero-tolerance, heavy-handed, and severe-strike attitude.
A month later, the police of the task force followed the Chen sisters’ purchase track and traced them all the way to an urban village in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, where the “manufacturer” was hiding!
In order to prevent the snarling of the grass, the investigator hired a local person as a translator and guide. After a week of hard work, I finally found out the illegal production dens. The suspect Luo was blocked in the den by the Yichang police, and all the stolen goods were recovered.
In a messy room of more than 20 square meters, the police handling the case confiscated various production tools and more than 100,000 pieces of food that are toxic and harmful non-food raw materials.
According to the police, after Luo purchased raw materials online, he converted one bedroom of the rental house into a “production workshop”, mixed and processed them into powder capsules, and repackaged some furosemide tablets, all of which were used as weight-loss products. The name, through express, logistics wholesale to Yichang Chen sisters for online sales.
The picture shows Yichang police seized raw materials for the production and sale of toxic and harmful diet food. Photo by Jiang Yali
Police alert
Health food is different from general nutritional food, especially health food for weight loss. You must not blindly believe in the exaggerated propaganda in advertisements. There are blue hats and other related signs to prevent being cheated.
Author｜All Media Reporter of Rule of Law Daily Liu Zhiyue Trainee Reporter Liu Huan Correspondent Jiang Yali