WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice has favorably resolved three actions it filed in Arizona, Pennsylvania and South Carolina, to seize and condemn dietary supplements containing the unsafe food additive 1,3-dimethylamylamine, commonly known as DMAA, an amphetamine-like stimulant that has been linked to at least 86 adverse health events. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and federal law, the sale of DMAA in interstate commerce is illegal, and consumers should not buy or use dietary supplements containing DMAA.
“Although DMAA is sometimes found in seemingly ordinary, over-the-counter dietary supplements, it has been linked to serious health problems,” said Stuart F. Delery, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division. “The FDA and the Department of Justice are dedicated to protecting Americans by getting products containing DMAA off the shelves.”
In June, in coordination with the FDA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina and the Department of Justice’s Consumer Protection Branch filed actions in Pittsburgh; Anderson, S.C.; and Phoenix, to seize and condemn three caches of DMAA-containing products, located in warehouses owned by General Nutrition Centers Inc. (GNC). After the seizure actions were filed, GNC voluntarily agreed to destroy all DMAA-containing products remaining at the three warehouses. Subsequently, FDA personnel witnessed the destruction of DMAA-containing products located in the Pennsylvania and Arizona warehouses, and the FDA has made arrangements to witness the destruction of these products in the South Carolina warehouse. As a result of these efforts, the government has dismissed all three seizure actions.
In a related matter, the manufacturer of the dietary supplements containing DMAA, Dallas-based USPlabs LLC, recently destroyed all DMAA-containing products in its possession. USPlabs, along with at least 10 other manufacturers of DMAA-containing products, has agreed to stop producing products containing DMAA.
The Department of Defense maintains a list of products containing DMAA that may still be in the marketplace. The list is available at http://hprc-online.org/dietary-supplements/files/DMAA_List.pdf.
