The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on imported coffees with unlisted ingredients that could be hazardous to your health. Several such products have been found to contain the active ingredients in oral ED medications.
“You want cream, sugar, and Viagra with that?” The U.S. Food and Drug Administration revealed a few years back that it had discovered a coffee product with an unlisted ingredient that most folks wouldn’t want — or need — the first thing in the morning.
To be fair, the coffee brand in question was marketed as a male enhancement product, so it’s likely that consumers in that target market suspected it might help them to perform better in bed. The product’s cumbersome brand name — New of Kopi Jantan Tradisional Natural Herbs Coffee — was no doubt designed to suggest that its hidden powers were part of an herbal remedy.
However, the FDA revealed, the coffee contained desmethyl carbodenafil, a chemical compound very similar to sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra. FDA scientists detected the presence of this unlisted ingredient through laboratory testing, a capability out of reach for the typical consumer.
Could Be Big Health Threat
So what’s the big deal? This hidden ingredient clearly would cost you more than a specialty brand of coffee if you shopped for it separately, right? While that’s no doubt true, men with certain medical conditions or those reliant on certain drugs could find their health imperiled if they used the coffee under the assumption that its power originated from natural herbs.
Like sildenafil citrate, desmethyl carbodenafil is incompatible with nitrate-based drugs. Both nitrates and the Viagra-like substance work by lowering blood pressure. Take both at the same time, and your blood pressure could drop so sharply that you might become dizzy, lose consciousness, or even worse.
Nitrate-based drugs are routinely used by patients suffering from a variety of diseases and disorders, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and elevated cholesterol. The drug’s most widely recognized form is the tiny nitroglycerin tablet that is used sublingually (under the tongue) to relieve the chest pains of angina pectoris. The drug is also widely used to treat high blood pressure that has failed to respond to other medications.
Another Unlisted Ingredient
Besides the Viagra-like substance discovered in the coffee, the FDA also found that the coffee contained another unlisted ingredient — milk. While that sounds fairly innocuous to most of us, those with lactose intolerance wouldn’t be happy with the complications the coffee product might cause them.
This brand of instant coffee was imported from Malaysia and distributed in the United States from July 2014 through June 2016 by Bestherbs Coffee LLC, a company based in Grand Prairie, Texas. In its announcement about the coffee’s hidden ingredients, the FDA said that Bestherbs was voluntarily recalling all lots of the coffee and was also advising known customers of the potential dangers posed by the coffee product.
Coffee Originated in Malaysia
Albert Yee, the man behind Bestherbs, told The Washington Post that he first became interested in the unique coffee brand during a visit to Malaysia. In a telephone interview, he said that everywhere he turned in Malaysia, street vendors were selling the coffee product to eager male consumers. “There are whole streets of it, like tequila in Mexico,” said Yee.
This is just the most recent recall of a coffee product found by the FDA to contain hidden and potentially dangerous ingredients. In September 2016, the drug regulatory agency issued an advisory to consumers warning them not to buy or use Stiff Bull Herbal Coffee, a brand name somewhat more forthright about its male enhancement properties.
FDA: Caveat Emptor!
Like the more recent recall, Stiff Bull was found to contain desmethyl carbodenafil, a substance similar in chemical structure to sildenafil citrate. In its advisory on Stiff Bull, the FDA said that the coffee product was part “of a growing trend of dietary supplements or conventional foods with hidden drugs and chemicals.” The agency said these products were most often represented as “all natural,” although testing had found that to be untrue in several cases. The FDA pointed out that it lacked the resources to test and identify all such products, so it was incumbent upon consumers to be cautious when purchasing these so-called natural remedies.
In May 2017, according to the FDA, an internet-based business operating as Caverlo.com voluntarily recalled its Caverlo Natural Herbal Coffee after that brand had been found to contain both sildenafil and tadalafil. The latter is the active ingredient in Cialis.
Don’t Take Chances
If you are suffering from erectile dysfunction and could use some help, you’re probably best off buying Viagra or one of the other oral ED drugs from your local neighborhood pharmacy or a reliable online supplier, such as eDrugstore.com. The latter, based in Tempe, Arizona, is part of the Secure Medical family of online drugstores and sells only FDA-approved medications, all of which are sourced from licensed U.S. pharmacies.
To buy any of these ED drugs, you’ll need a prescription. If you have one from your doctor, you can fax it or scan and email it along with your order to eDrugstore. If you don’t have a doctor’s prescription and would prefer not to discuss this sensitive personal matter with your regular doctor, eDrugstore can set up a complimentary online consultation with one of its licensed U.S. physicians. If your symptoms, medical history, and current medications make you an appropriate candidate for the drug, the eDrugstore doctor will authorize a prescription. To get started, click here to access eDrugstore’s Erectile Dysfunction page.
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