France warns against weight loss supplements using Garcinia plant

France warned Wednesday against dietary supplements promising weight loss that use the tropical plant Garcinia cambogia after a range of rare but serious side effects including one death were reported.

Garcinia cambogia — which is also called Garcinia gummi-gutta or Malabar tamarind — grows in India and Southeast Asia and has a fruit that looks like a pumpkin.

A range of supplements are sold around the world using extracts from the plant advertising its ability to suppress appetite and drive weight loss — claims not backed by comprehensive scientific evidence.

After investigating the death of a person who took a Garcinia-based supplement — and looking at other side effects reported in the United States and elsewhere — French food safety agency ANSES said it “strongly advises” people against consuming the plant.

The plant has been banned from being used medicine since 2012 in France, but continues to be advertised in more 340 dietary supplements, which are mostly available online, the agency said in a statement.

There were 38 cases of serious side effects affecting the liver, pancreas, heart, muscles and mental health reported in France between 2009 and March last year, ANSES said.

These side effects can affect people with a history of psychiatric disorders, pancreatitis or hepatitis — or who suffer from diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure, the agency added.

People taking antidepressants, antiretrovirals or drugs that affect the liver can also experience side effects.

A 71-year-old woman in France taking blood pressure drugs died of acute hepatitis in 2019 after taking Garcinia-based supplement Slim Metabol. ANSES says her death was “very likely” linked to the supplement, which remains on sale.

However people without a history of health problems can also be affected.

“A 32-year-old woman with no medical history developed myocarditis that led to her requiring a heart transplant,” Aymeric Dopter, head of the ANSES nutrition risk assessment unit, told AFP.

“Some people will tell you: ‘I took it and I am fine’,” Dopter said.

“But we can see from these few cases that people who were simply trying to lose weight ended up with seriously impaired health — or even died,” he said.

“It is not the worth the risk.”

The safety of products using Garcinia cambogia is currently being assessed by the European Food Safety Agency.

The watchdog is also investigating the risk of hydroxycitric acid, an ingredient extracted from the Garcinia plant’s fruit, which is also used in supplements promoting weight loss.

France’s ANSES called for the list of plants authorised for use in food supplements to be “harmonised” across the European Union.