If I told you that there is a method that allows you to lose weight easily without dieting or exercising, would you be excited? In recent years, on some e-commerce platforms, a so-called “internet celebrity weight loss capsule” has appeared with considerable sales. The merchants claim that as long as you take one on an empty stomach, you can burn fat and slim down. Is such weight loss food reliable?
In recent years, with economic development and improved living standards, the number of obese people in China has continued to increase. According to the latest data from the “Report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020)”, more than half of adult residents in China are overweight or obese. At the same time, the overweight and obesity rates among children and adolescents aged 6-17 and under 6 years old are also not low, at 19% and 10.4%, respectively.
Consumer Ms. Cai: Look at my figure, you know that I am also relatively fat. I usually don’t like to exercise much, and I also like to eat. I’m not the type of person who exercises regularly. So, maybe the effect of losing weight is not particularly ideal, not very good.
Recent years have seen a variety of weight loss foods on the market, bewildering consumers. Are these products really effective? What impact do they have on health, and ordinary consumers find it difficult to discern.
Journalist investigations have found that during the summer and autumn, a peak season for weight loss, there has been a significant increase in patients seeking weight loss treatments in major hospitals. Recently, journalists visited the Fifth Medical Center of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital. The doctors here told the journalists that there are more and more consumers with weight loss needs in recent years, and some incorrect methods not only do not help with weight loss but may even harm consumer health.
Head of the Endocrinology Department of the Fifth Medical Center of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Mr. Fang Yi: Some people may advocate weight loss methods that are not scientific or recommended. Some weight loss methods recommend eating certain foods or a few foods to lose weight, such as the apple weight loss method or the cucumber weight loss method. In fact, these methods lead to an unbalanced intake of nutrients and may eventually lead to loss of appetite symptoms.
In the daily reception of patients, Director Fang Yi found that many patients came for medical attention after experiencing physical discomfort from using weight loss foods with unclear ingredients.
Head of the Endocrinology Department of the Fifth Medical Center of the People’s Liberation Army General Hospital, Mr. Fang Yi: We also often encounter some women who are already very healthy in terms of height and weight, but claim to be losing weight recently. They may have consumed certain special weight loss drugs, the ingredients of which are not very clear. Eventually, the patients suffer from symptoms such as palpitations, insomnia, and high blood pressure. Upon examination, it turns out that the levels of thyroid hormones in their bodies have been affected.
Not long ago, a consumer, Ms. Chen from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, purchased a so-called weight loss capsule from an online shop called “Jiaojiao Little Fairy.” The website advertised it as “one capsule satisfies you for a whole day, suitable for various body types prone to obesity.” The seller also promised, “No rebound in weight loss, full refund if ineffective.”
Consumer Ms. Chen: The weight loss pills they recommend are to be taken once a day. Basically, you can lose 10 kilograms a month by taking one capsule a day, and I wanted to try it out. So I ordered around twenty-something capsules, spending about over 200 yuan.
However, after receiving the product, Ms. Chen experienced symptoms like palpitations and neurosystem imbalance after just three days of consumption.
This weight loss capsule purchased by Ms. Chen online can be seen with brand labeling as “Warner Bros. Brand Tea Polyphenol Lotus Leaf Capsules.”
The outer packaging prominently displays the “blue cap” logo of health food and the words “Approved by the State Food and Drug Administration”, along with the label “Health Function: Weight Loss.” The markings and words on the packaging seem to hint to consumers that this is a legitimate “health food.” However, the Henan police discovered multiple suspicious aspects of this so-called weight loss capsule.
Head of the Mineshaft Police Station of Shangjie District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, Geng Chuanzheng: Firstly, there is no specific production date on this packaging, and there is no specific address of production either. By searching for its health food registration and filing number, no relevant records were found, indicating that this product is problematic.
The so-called “blue cap” health food logo turned out to be fake. At the same time, the testing agency feedback on the tested product samples revealed that the weight loss capsules contained the prohibited substance sibutramine.
It is understood that sibutramine is a central nervous system inhibitor that, when used in the body, can increase the sense of physiological fullness, reduce appetite, and has been used in the treatment of obesity.
However, later clinical studies found that sibutramine has side effects on the human digestive system, nervous system, and cardiovascular system, with the most prominent impact being on the cardiovascular system, and in severe cases, it can be life-threatening. Therefore, since 2010, the production, sale, and use of sibutramine formulations and raw materials have been banned in China.
Through online shopping, logistics information, and others, the Henan police identified the suspect Huang, who was selling the Warner Bros. weight loss capsules. The Henan police investigation revealed that Huang did not have a legitimate job and was specializing in selling illegal weight loss capsules online, charging prices ranging from 14 yuan to 20 yuan per capsule.
The Henan police told the journalists that within just half a year from the start of the case to the arrest, Huang had sold over 30,000 illegal weight loss capsules nationwide.
After being caught, according to Huang’s confession, the weight loss capsules he sold were wholesale from a Henan individual named Yang. Through technical investigations, the Henan police quickly located Yang’s base of operations and found a large quantity of loose capsules, sibutramine raw material, and capsule casings.
The kitchen of this ordinary residence used by Yang as an illegal production site for weight loss capsules. From the photos, it can be seen that the hygiene conditions here are worrying, with medicine powder scattered on the floor, and the basin and capsule board in the corner are simple tools used for processing finished products.
Head of the Mineshaft Police Station of Shangjie District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, Geng Chuanzheng: The remaining powder found in the basin during the search at Yang’s base was used to fill the capsule board, which filled the capsules, and the capsules were then gradually compacted. The environment is very messy, all manual mixing, manual filling, and then manual compression.
According to the police, Yang would mix lotus leaf powder, diuretics, and sibutramine according to certain proportions in the basin, then manually fill them with simple tools. The daily production capacity is over 10,000 capsules.
According to Yang’s confession, the production cost of the illegal weight loss capsules was between 0.4 and 0.6 yuan per capsule, and the wholesale price was between 1.1 and 1.6 yuan per capsule, with a profit margin of about 2 times. The products were distributed throughout the country, and up to the point of the case, Yang had wholesaled over 200,000 illegal weight loss capsules.
