Translation of a-t 2024; 55: 30-1

FAT-DISSOLVING INJECTION LEMON BOTTLE AND FOOD SUPPLEMENTS FOR WEIGHT LOSS

The Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products, Swissmedic, classifies the fat-dissolving injection LEMON BOTTLE as an illegal medicinal product.¹ The solution for injection for lipolysis is touted online and on social media like TikTok and Instagram as a "natural product"² and an alternative to liposuction in people with fat deposits in what are so called problem areas like double chins, thighs and similar areas. The medical efficacy of LEMON BOTTLE has not been scientifically proven.¹ It is not approved as a medicinal product in Switzerland or Germany. The German provider promises the highest quality with strict manufacturing standards and a "production plant that has unsurpassed technologies".² We consider assertions of this type to be disinformation: in product samples that Swissmedic has acquired from various sources, the authorities' own laboratory was unable to detect the declared components of bromelain, lecithin and vitamin B₂. Only caffeine was found in one of the samples. There are also questions about tolerability. According to Swissmedic, use of the product can be a "health risk".¹ Possible risks include, for example, allergic reactions, the formation of dents, necrosis and nerve damage. According to the regional authority responsible for monitoring the provider of LEMON BOTTLE, the marketability of the product in Germany is currently being checked. The authority does not want to provide any specific information about the ongoing procedure.³ Disinformation about food supplements, which are publicised online as a way to lose weight and are distributed via mail-order selling (e a-t 11/2018), in particular is widespread. Concerning active substances were identified in a large number of allegedly 100% natural products and even in herbal teas,^4,5 for example the appetite suppressant sibutramine (previously REDUCTIL; a-t 2014; 45: 121), which has been banned as a medicinal product since 2010 due to cardiotoxicity, or the potentially cardiogenic laxative phenolphthalein (previously e.g. DARMOL; a-t 1997; No. 9: 100).^6,7 There must be an urgent warning about ordering weight loss substances online. "In the best case they are just useless, and in the worst case they are even harmful to health."⁷

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