Tea greetings: a mixture with sibutramine was found for free sale on the Web
The dangerous substance sibutramine (included in the list of potent substances) has been found in Turkish Diox and Meri Detox slimming tea, which is actively advertised and sold on the Internet. The examination report is available to Izvestia. Tea contains this substance in dosages comparable to medicines that are sold exclusively by prescription, experts said. But because of the risk of being criminalized, sellers of such tea hide sibutramine in the product. Uncontrolled intake of this product can lead to serious health complications, from anxiety disorders and insomnia to stroke and heart attack, doctors have warned. Who sells a dangerous drink and what other harm it can cause to the body is in the Izvestia article.
What is included in the composition of tea for weight loss
The popular Turkish slimming tea Diox and Meri Detox, which is actively advertised on the Internet by popular bloggers, contains sibutramine, Izvestia found out. This substance is included in the list of potent and poisonous substances prohibited for free sale in the territory of the Russian Federation. It is an amphetamine-type psychostimulant that is used as part of prescription medications for obesity, such as Reduxin.
Tea is sold in bright packages and packaged in tea bags. The price of a package of 60 sachets is 1.8–2 thousand rubles. You can find many commercials for this product on social networks and messengers: representatives of suppliers tell you how quickly, easily and harmlessly its consumers lost weight. The product description contains only natural ingredients: herbs, berries and green tea. It also says that the drink "helps to remove excess fluid, reduces the amount of fats and carbohydrates, breaks down fatty acids and converts them into energy, accelerates metabolism."
Customers complain that the tea comes in crumpled packages and call it a fake.
"It's 100% fake. Visually, by smell, and by taste. Everything is different. If the box is even more or less similar, then the filling is a complete horror. In general, it is not known what was poured into these bags. It can be dangerous to health," says one of the comments on the product.
At the same time, there are also positive reviews.
What the victims said
In appearance, the product can hardly be called tea — it is a bright pink powder. Sellers indicate the recommended daily dose, however, after the first use, some losing weight face consequences.
The victim, Elena Bogomolova, from Moscow, ordered tea on the advice of a friend. I hoped to lose weight quickly, but instead I got serious health problems.
"Anxiety has increased, and my heart rate has increased," she told Izvestia. — The second bag, which I drank in the evening, provoked insomnia. And the thirst increased greatly.
To understand the cause of the side effects, Izvestia purchased two types of tea from different sellers and submitted them for examination. The international association "Anti-counterfeit" has studied the composition of the product in detail. The result explained the body's reaction — the experts found sibutramine in all four samples.
Its dosage in some samples is comparable to the medicinal one — 12.7 mg per tea bag, follows from the examination protocol. For comparison, the drug Reduxin, which is prescribed by doctors for obesity, contains 10 mg of this substance.
The fact that the tea contains sibutramine is not mentioned in the product description. There is no such information on the packages either, as well as warnings about side effects.
"Meri Detox tea does not have a certificate of state registration. There is also no information about the state registration of tea as a specialized food product. The turnover of these products violates the requirements of the federal law on the circulation of medicines. The sale of these products to consumers in the territory of the Russian Federation is prohibited," the conclusion says.
Izvestia appealed to Rospotrebnadzor with a request to check the dangerous goods.
What is the danger of sibutramine?
Experts of the project "Don't take risks, check!" of the international association "Anti-counterfeit" have repeatedly identified undeclared and dangerous substances in freely available goods. And the situation with tea for weight loss was no exception, project manager Sergey Zelenets told Izvestia.
Sibutramine, he says, does reduce weight, but at the same time it provokes sleep disorders, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and anxiety disorders.
"And in large doses, it acts as a poison and suppresses liver and kidney function, which can lead to an exacerbation of chronic diseases," the expert said. — But the list of side effects does not frighten sellers. They simply do not specify the main active ingredient in the product.
The main problem with taking this drug in various teas and food additives is that its presence in the product is hidden from the consumer, internist Elena Artamonova told Izvestia.
— A person takes tea or dietary supplements and does not understand what is happening to him, why he feels bad, — said the doctor. — And until he realizes that this is related to sibutramine and goes to the doctor, unfortunately, it takes a long time. And we already have to make significant efforts to offset this.
Police officers have already begun to bring to justice sellers who sell tea with a dangerous composition. So, in June 2025, a blogger from Dagestan, Jamila Shapilova, went under arrest for selling tea for weight loss, local media reported. The girl actively advertised the product on social networks and sold it to customers. The investigators sent the tea for examination and found sibutramine in it.
A criminal case has been opened for the illegal trafficking of potent substances for the purpose of sale. However, in judicial practice, sentences under this article are extremely rare, lawyer Andrey Sergeev told Izvestia.
— In 2024, the courts handed down 10-15 sentences, — said the lawyer. — Sellers are caught either on control purchases, or when there is a victim of the use of a prohibited substance. Traffickers are well aware that punishment is rarely applied, so they deliberately take risks.
What threatens sellers
Sibutramine can cause severe side effects, including stroke, heart attack and death, pharmaceutical safety expert Alexander Nosenko told Izvestia.
"Such cases are not just a violation of labeling rules or technical regulations," the expert noted. — Sellers may face up to eight years in prison for handling unregistered medicines or potent substances under Articles 238.1 and 234 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.
Any undeclared and unmarked substance in the product is already a threat to life and health, he added. But when it comes to pharmacologically active compounds like sibutramine, the risks increase significantly. Especially if such a product gets to people with hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, pregnant women or minors.
— Some tea cards indicate that its quality and safety are documented. In fact, people become victims by using substances that would normally not be sold to them without a prescription, even in a pharmacy," he said.
The problem of the free sale of goods with prohibited substances requires not only the blocking of such goods, but also the adoption of tougher measures against sellers, experts believe. In the meantime, they added, responsibility for the sale of dangerous products is blurred.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
