The FDA has added three products to this safety alert regarding products with poisonous yellow oleander.
The Food and Drug Administration tested the products and found that they contain toxic yellow oleander.
Yellow oleander can cause neurologic, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular adverse health effects that may be severe, or even fatal.
The FDA continues to investigate the safety of botanical weight loss products on the market by testing for yellow oleander.
Additionally, two of these products contain other hidden drug ingredients and may cause life-threatening reactions. See FDA’s notifications for D Magic Plus and B. Magi for more information.
Dozens of products have warnings or recalls in place. For a full list of those products and photos, click here. In September 2023, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report of several tejocote root products found to be substituted with yellow oleander, a toxic substance. Based on this report, the FDA initiated an investigation to sample and test additional tejocote root products. As part of FDA’s ongoing surveillance sampling efforts, the agency continues to test products.
Based on the FDA’s sampling and testing results thus far, the FDA is also concerned that other products marketed as tejocote root — including with other names such as Crataegus mexicana, Raiz de Tejocote, and Mexican Hawthorn — may contain yellow oleander. Additional investigation by FDA has determined that some dietary supplements that are not labeled to contain tejocote root may also contain toxic, yellow oleander. Consuming yellow oleander can cause severe adverse health effects and be potentially fatal.