The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning on January 4 that several dietary supplements claiming to contain tejocote (Crataegus mexicana) root were adulterated with yellow oleander, a poisonous plant native to Mexico and Central America which can cause severe and potentially fatal health effects.
 
These new findings are very similar to investigations independently conducted last year by the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in which yellow oleander was found in several products purchased online. At the time, these products were labeled either as tejocote or Nuez de la India (Aleurites moluccanus).
 
At the time, Stefan Gafner, PhD, technical director of the ABC-AHP-NCNPR Botanical Adulterants Prevention Program (BAPP) and chief science officer of the American Botanical Council (ABC) told Nutraceuticals World that yellow oleander hadn’t been on anyone’s radar prior. Yellow oleander, Gafner noted, contains cardiac glycosides, a class of compounds which have pronounced effects on heart rhythm.
 
In the present investigation, FDA tested nine samples of supplements purchased online from Amazon, Etsy, and other retailers. The products were branded as “Alipotec Tejocote Root,” “Nutraholics ELV Tejocote Root,” “ELV Nutraholics Mexican Tejocote Root,” “ELVPOTEC Tejocote Root,” “Science of Alpha Mexican Tejocote Root,” “Niwali Raiz de Tejocote,” “Alipotec Tejocote Root,” “Tejocotex,” and “ELV Alipotec Raiz de Tejocote.”
 
One commonality across all products is that they were purchased online through third-party platforms, the agency noted. FDA will work with all platforms these products were sold on, to remove them from shelves.
 
FDA has advised consumers to dispose of the products, and contact a healthcare provider if they took any of the adulterated products. “Ingestion of yellow oleander can cause neurologic, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular adverse health effects that may be severe, or even fatal,” the agency reported. “Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, dairrhea, abdominal pain, cardiac changes, dysrhythmia, and more.”
 
Due to continued offenses from several products, the agency is also concerned that other products marketed as tejocote, including with other names like Crateagus Mexicana, Raiz de Tejocote, and Mexican Hawthorn, may contain yellow oleander.
 
Investigation into products potentially adulterated with yellow oleander is ongoing, the agency noted, and it may add more products to its advisory in the future.