A quarter of food supplements in Portugal contain banned substances: agencies
Xinhua, February 12, 2015 Adjust font size:
Around 25 percent of all the samples of food supplements analyzed by Portugal's Food Safety Authority (ASAE) and Drugs Standards Agency (Infarmed) in the last 12 months were found to contain banned substances, the two agencies said in a joint statement issued Wednesday.
The supplements found to contain prohibited ingredients would be taken off the market, ASAE and Infarmed said the analysis resulted from an agreement signed a year ago "to boost control of food supplements which, in their composition, contain active ingredients with a pharmacological action that are used in medications, and are therefore a risk to public health."
The two agencies identified 98 food supplements currently sold on the market containing the prohibited ingredients. Of these 58 were dieting supplements and 40 were marketed as improving "sexual performance."
"Appropriate measures will be taken to remove the products from the market and to start legal proceedings," the two agencies said, adding that they would continue to inspect food supplements that are available on the Portuguese market. Endit