A natural product is not de facto a safe product.

As part of our on-going coverage of natural product recalls by Health Canada, we take a look at unwanted erections associated with all-natural weight loss.

To be fair, Health Canada has not received any adverse reactions reports from consumers who bought and ingested Crane Beauty Green Algae Compound Tablets for weight loss. The tablets were removed from a drugstore in Burnaby, British Columbia, since the miraculous green algae which was claimed to make you lose weight was laced with sibutramine and sildenafil. The first compound, sibutramine, “was previously used to treat obesity but is no longer authorized for sale in Canada because of its association with an increased risk of cardiovascular side-effects such as heart attack and stroke”. The second compound, sildenafil, is better known by its trade name Viagra.

The drugstore was selling other Crane Beauty products which also contained prescription ingredients such as nicotine. Charming, isn’t it?

Next time you are browsing the natural health products at your local drugstore, remember that these products do not undergo the rigorous quality assurance process that actual drugs go through. They have frequently been found to contain unlisted substances and the so-called active ingredient is sometimes not even present, having been substituted by a cheaper alternative.

Natural does not equal safe.