The stated objective of a study published recently in the journal Neurology is “To identify the presence of unapproved pharmaceutical drugs in over-the-counter dietary supplements marketed to improve memory and cognitive function.” And its findings were supportive of that objective.

It also caused a kerfuffle and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) responded.

In the study of 10 brain support products, the researchers found that several contained unapproved drugs omberacteam and aniracetam as well as phenibut, vinpocetine and picamilon, according to the study [vinpocetine is a botanical nootropic that is not a drug].

The method used, according to the study abstract, was the search of two supplement databased for products labeled as containing these drugs, and the products were subsequently purchased online then analyzed with non-targeted liquid chromatography-quadrupole time of flight-mass spectrometry.

The study concluded that the presence of the “unnaproved drugs in supplements including at supratheurapeutic dosages, suggests serious risks to consumers and weaknesses in the regulatory framework under which supplements are permitted to be introduced in the US. Until the regulatory framework is reformed, clinicians should advise patients that supplements marketed as cognitive enhancement products may contain unpredictable combinations of unapproved drugs.”

In its response, Steven Mister, CRN’s president and CEO, wrote: “The results of this exercise by Dr. Cohen et al. demonstrate this unfortunate, but unsurprising truth: when researchers—or consumers—with access to an online search engine go looking for illegal products posing as brain health supplements, they are likely to find them. What’s more disturbing is the authors’ sweeping conclusions about the brain health category of dietary supplements based on a narrow selection of ten illegal products found on the internet. Fortunately for consumers, this small collection does not represent the brain health supplement category, as the products identified in the study are not legal dietary supplements, but illegal products containing unapproved drugs. Evidence indicates nutrients are essential for brain health whether achieved through diet or supplementation. Research continues to emerge demonstrating how certain dietary supplements can support brain function in combination with other factors including diet and lifestyle.”

Mister added that CRN encourages consumers (and the media) to avoid misconstruing the findings of this particular analysis and to clearly understand that this small sample (10 products) is not representative of the brain health supplement category as a whole.” A Google result of “brain support supplements” yielded 131 million results in less than one second.

Reference:

Cohen PA, Avula B, et al. “Five unapproved drugs found in cognitive enhancement supplements” Neurology 2020

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