London - A young health worker died after she took an overdose of slimming pills, each containing two-and-a-half times as much caffeine as a can of Red Bull.
Cara Reynolds had bought a pack of Forza raspberry ketone “natural” supplements from Amazon for £20 to help her lose weight, even though she was a size 10, her family said on Tuesday.
Unproven ketone pills have been marketed on Facebook using bogus endorsements from celebrities, although Forza says it has not used such endorsements.
After splitting up with her fiance, Reynolds, 24, swallowed a large number of the tablets, containing as much caffeine as 225 cans of an energy drink.
Medics tried to restart her heart more than 40 times, but were unable to save her.
A report submitted to the British Medical Journal said the tragedy highlighted the dangers of untested over-the-counter supplements. Reynolds’s family on Tuesday called on retailers such as Holland and Barrett to stop selling raspberry ketones.
“If the ketones had not been so readily available, Cara might still be here today,’ her father Michael, 55, said.
“These pills need to be taken off the shelves.”
Reynolds, who worked with mental health patients in Edinburgh, bought a bottle of Forza raspberry ketone pills from Amazon in February last year, her father said.
But after taking just two pills, she went to her father complaining of heart palpitations, he claimed. “She’d only taken the recommended amount of pills but was scared because her heart was going ten to the dozen,” he said.
“She said she wasn’t going to take them for weight loss any more, it had really worried her.” But a month later, after Reynolds broke up with her fiance, her parents found her suffering a seizure in her bedroom. She was rushed to hospital, but died from a cardiovascular collapse caused by a massive caffeine overdose.
Mr Reynolds, a security officer, said: “I held my only daughter in my arms and she kept telling me she had made a mistake and that she didn’t want to die. In a moment of madness, she’d taken an overdose because she had the ketones to hand. It was the most heartbreaking moment of my life, and one I will never forget.”
The Food Standards Agency classifies raspberry ketones as a “novel food” which has not been tested in Europe and therefore should not be sold, except for use in flavourings or extracts prepared with water. But it is up to local trading standards officers to identify outlets still selling them.
Amazon’s UK website sells pots of “maximum strength” Forza raspberry ketone capsules for £16.04. Holland and Barrett advertises a pack of raspberry ketone capsules for £9.99, although it makes no health or weight loss claims.
A spokesman declined to comment as it hadn’t supplied the pills Reynolds took.
A representative for Forza said: “This is a tragic and understandably upsetting situation for her family and friends, but it could have been effected through the misuse of any supplement. Forza products meet vigorous health and safety standards and have clear labelling and directions for safe usage. The facts surrounding this incident are not yet wholly clear, but our client entirely rejects any implication that an inherent safety issue with its products is responsible.”
Facebook said its advertising rules barred “false, misleading, fraudulent, or deceptive claims or content”.
Daily Mail