The Ministry of Health has published a safety alert regarding the seizure of tea bags from Turkey containing a banned substance. In fact, the sachets contain a medicine with a slimming action. The product has the Meridetox Tea Premium brand (see photo below) and can be purchased on various e-commerce sites, the Ministry says. Italy reported the product to the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed Rasff (notification 2024.3007) on 15/04/2024. However, the warning to consumers was only published today, 04/30/2024.
The Trieste Financial Police Group and the Anti-Fraud and Customs Control Section discovered the tea bags in question hidden in a vehicle coming from Turkey that landed in the city’s port. In total, Italian authorities seized 14,400 single-serving bags of Meridetox Tea Premium tea. The analyzes carried out at the Trieste Customs laboratory found the presence of sibutramine, a substance with pharmacological slimming activity. The use of this active ingredient is prohibited in foods and food supplements.
Sibutramine is an appetite-reducing drug used in the treatment of obesity. Following a re-evaluation of the safety and effectiveness of sibutramine, the European Medicines Agency’s Medicines Agency Committee concluded that the benefits of the drug do not outweigh the potential risks. In 2010, the European Union therefore decided to suspend all marketing authorizations for medicines containing sibutramine.
© All rights reserved Photos: AdobeStock, GDF and ADM Trieste
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Professional journalist, editor of Il Fatto Alimentare. Biologist, with a master’s degree in applied nutrition and dietetics. She mainly writes about nutrition, labels, sustainability and food safety. She manages food recalls and the ‘alert service’.
