Ephedra Ban

There is plenty of public confusion about the legality of ephedra products in the United States and whether it can still be purchased. Discover more about the status of the ephedra ban.

There is a reason lots of people are confused about the legal nature of ephedra diet pills and that confusion has left consumers open to scams. Those selling diet pills are pushing a lot of similar ephedra products or claiming to have the same weight loss power as ephedra.

The FDA declared back in 2004 that ephedra was a dangerous herb and represented a danger to the public so that any products containing it would be adulterated in nature and illegal to produce or to sell.

Early in 2005 a company by the name of Nutraceutical Corporation challenged the legality of the ban and a Utah judge ruled in favor of Nutraceutical Corporation. The legal challenge related to the fact that the FDA had not shown that products with 10 mg or less of ephedra alkaloids were dangerous. (Most ephedra products before the ephedra ban used 20-25 mg of ephedra alkaloids.)

The FDA was still declaring that all ephedra products were illegal and that the ban was still in place despite the fact that manufacturers continued to make ephedra diet pills. Although they were now producing lower quantity ephedra products that only contained 10 mg of the ephedra alkaloid.

The FDA used US marshals several times to raid and seize pallets of ephedra products that were packaged for weight loss.

The production and selling of ephedra was once again delcared illegal in August, 2006 when the 10th US Court of Appeals upheld the FDA's position that ephedra was a harmful substance. It is no longer legal to sell or make ephedra products in the U.S. no matter what it is used for or how much ephedra is in the product.

Nutraceutical Corporation, October 2006, has issued another challenge and filed another petition for rehearing in front of the entire 10th circuit of the US Court of Appeals saying the FDA's assessment of unreasonable risk is too rigid and gives the agency license to declare any dietary ingredient adulterated.

As of right now ephedra weight loss pills are considered illegal by the U.S. government.

That could change but doesn't seem likely due to the fact that Congress is rewriting the laws regarding supplements and herbs. The newly worded laws will make it easier for the FDA to take action and ban substances they deem harmful to the general public.

The effectiveness and safety of ephedra was supported by social proof in the marketplace. People bought and used ephedra for over 10 years with many of them coming back again and again to repurchase these products. Even without scientific proof that alone shows that ephedra worked and was safe.

If it had not show results ephedra would have vanished from the market on it's own. But due to the support of people who thought is was safe and effective they continue to search for ephedra weight loss products despite the fact it is illegal. This is something they just want to use.

Article Source: http://www.bodyformind.com/db

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