The FDA has expanded its safety alert on weight loss supplements substituted with toxic yellow oleander, adding three more products on August 12, 2026 and bringing the warning list to roughly two dozen items sold online. The agency urges anyone who has one at home to stop using it and dispose of it.
The newest additions, reported by Food Safety News, are Slim Elixir, D Magic Plus and B. Magi, all sold by Suerte Y Salud LLC through the website lamilagrosalab.com. FDA testing found the products contain toxic yellow oleander, which is not listed on the label.
The alert traces back to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report from September 2023 that found nine of 10 tested products advertised as tejocote root were actually substituted with yellow oleander. The FDA has been adding products to the safety list ever since.
What yellow oleander does to the body
Yellow oleander (Thevetia peruviana) is a poisonous plant native to Mexico and Central America. According to the FDA, ingesting it can cause "neurologic, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular adverse events that could be severe or fatal."
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Documented symptoms include nausea, vomiting, dizziness, diarrhea, abdominal pain, confusion and cardiac arrhythmias, and small amounts can be fatal.
The plant contains cardiac glycosides that disrupt the electrical signals controlling heartbeat, which is why cardiac arrest is on the list of possible outcomes.
The FDA warning covers all age groups, but children and people with existing heart conditions are especially vulnerable.
Which products and where they were sold
The supplements at issue are marketed as tejocote root, also labeled as Crataegus mexicana, Raiz de Tejocote or Mexican Hawthorn, or as Brazil seed.
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Some are not labeled to contain tejocote root at all. Beyond the newest three, previously flagged brands include Nut Diet Max, Todorganic Natural, SdB Semilla de Brasil Tejocote Root, SdB ELITE, SiluetaYa Mexican Tejocote Roots, New Me, VidaSlim and Chupa Panza.
The FDA says the products have been sold through Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart and company websites.
Some sellers have voluntarily recalled their products; others have not, so items may still be available online. The FDA maintains a chart of the affected products with photos on its safety alert page.
Two of the newly added products carry extra risks. D Magic Plus also contains diclofenac, a prescription anti-inflammatory drug that can cause life-threatening reactions in some users. B. Magi contains phenolphthalein, a laxative that was pulled from the US market over cancer-risk concerns. Neither ingredient appears on the label.
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What consumers should do
The FDA advises anyone who has purchased one of these products to stop using it and dispose of it. Consumers who have taken any of the listed products should contact a healthcare provider, even if they are not currently feeling unwell. Anyone experiencing severe symptoms should call 911 or Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222.
Because the toxic ingredient is not on the label, checking the FDA's alert against the actual brand name and seller on the bottle is the only reliable way to tell whether a supplement is affected.
The FDA continues to test supplements in this category, and the safety list has grown several times since 2023.
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This article is made and published by Mie Hermansen, who may have used AI in the preparation.