Danish authorities warn against drug-laced coffee

Denmark's medicines regulatory authority has warned consumers not to drink Weight Loss Coffee because it is adulterated with a compound related to sibutramine, a potent active pharmaceutical ingredient that has been taken off the market.

Sibutramine was sold by Abbott Laboratories as a treatment for obesity until last year, when it was removed from sale after being linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular events and strokes. It is classified as a Schedule IV controlled substance.

The Weight Loss Coffee has been analysed by the Danish Medicines Agency and found to contain 615mg of the BTS 54-505, a substance formed when sibutramine is broken down, in one sachet. The tablets that were withdrawn from the market due to side effects contained 10mg of sibutramine.

"In cooperation with the Danish tax authorities (SKAT), the Danish Medicines Agency has withheld two shipments containing a total of more than four kg of Weight Loss Coffee in small sachets," said the agency. The shipments were imported from the Philippines by two Danish nationals.