Recall of Supplement Containing Seville Orange Shows Absurdity of FDA's Claims

Diet Supplement Solo Slim contains a natural compound that includes a substance similar to an FDA-approved drug.

The FDA has made Solo Slim sound like a sinister product, using the very real dangers of sibutramine, the drug, to force its withdrawal from the market. The fact, though, is that the natural ingredient is not the same thing as the drug. Genuine concern for the public’s health has nothing to do with banning a product for including Seville oranges.

Demonstrating its intention to give control of the natural world to Big Pharma, the FDA has taken action against Solo Slim, an all-natural diet supplement. The supplement Citrus aurantium, commonly called either bitter or Seville orange. Bitter orange naturally contains didesmethyl sibutramine. It has not been shown to be harmful in the fruit. Nonetheless, its similarity to the dangerous diet drug, sibutramine hydrochloride, generally referred to simply as sibutramine, is all the FDA needed to state that Solo Slim contains an “undeclared drug”. It’s now being recalled.

The question we should be asking is, “Where does this end?” Sibutramine is one element of a natural compound found in Seville oranges, which are often made into marmalade. A quick search for “bitter orange recipes” on Google turns up 201,000 results.

Bitter Orange, the Food

Bitter orange is very closely related to the more common sweet orange. The bitter orange was derived from a cross between the pommelo and the mandarin tangarine. The commonly-eaten sweet orange was derived from the same varietals! The difference is only that the sweet orange was developed later and with different parents.

Are we going to find that a favorite fruit will be declared a drug by the FDA? Calling it a drug when sold in a diet supplement is a much bigger step than declaring the fruit it comes from to be illegal.

If this seems far-fetched, consider that raw milk is now illegal in many, if not most, states, and is nearly impossible to purchase because of the FDA’s forays against its producers. The FDA has decided that you do not have the right to drink milk until it’s been adulterated by pasteurizing. Whether you want to drink raw milk yourself is not the issue. The issue is that the FDA says you don’t have the right to choose for yourself.