Six in ten commercially sold aloe products contain too much aloin, which may cause hypokalemia and uterine contractions

These days, many men and women who want to slim down may buy products containing aloin to lose weight, but when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspected the situation of aloe products sold on the market, it sampled 10 products, and a total of 6 of them had an aloin content of 3000 mg/kg or more, suggesting the use of extracted, non-natural aloe; the FDA stated that it has now required operators to recall all products and remove them from shelves, and has notified local health bureaus to handle the matter.

Aloin comes from the outer skin and should not be eaten

Aloe is often used in weight-loss products, and it is generally believed that aloe has anti-diabetic, nervous system effects, wound and healing, anti-radiation and other properties, but if aloe is to be eaten, it must be "completely peeled" before it can be used as a food and a raw material for processing; because the rind of the aloe fruit contains a large amount of aloin (Aloin), ingesting too much aloin may easily cause intestinal spasms, electrolyte imbalance (such as low blood potassium) in the human body, and at the same time will also cause the uterus to contract.

According to the recommendations of The International Aloe Science Council, the amount of edible aloin added should be less than 10 mg/kg. The FDA stated that under current regulations, companies selling products containing "aloin" must provide proof of testing by a credible institution, and must mark the warning "pregnant women should not eat" on the outer packaging of the product. However, purified aloin cannot be added to food.

6 products exceed the aloin content standard, reaching several times to dozens of times

But when the FDA tested 10 products sold on the market, it found that 6 products had an aloin content exceeding 3000 mg/kg, including "Slim Eat Slim Win - Yao Kong 33", "KGCHECK Slim Oil Dissolving Tablets", "burner Double Heat Smooth Ferment Tablets", "KOKOKG - Starch Blocking Power", "Collagen Thousand Posture Capsules", and "Youbeiduo Smooth Beauty Tablets".

According to experiments by the research and testing team, natural aloe contains only 20 mg/kg of aloin, while artificially extracted, non-natural aloe (or aloe gel) can reach as high as 3000 mg/kg. But among the products that failed this spot inspection, all exceeded 3000 mg/kg by two times to dozens of times or more. Therefore, the FDA suspects that operators illegally added extracted aloe to food.

In response, FDA Director-General Chiang Yu-mei said that if purified aloe is to be used, it should follow the "Guidelines for Applications for Non-Traditional Food Raw Materials" and submit data for safety assessment; and operators currently violating the regulations should provide relevant proof of use, otherwise they will be penalized under Article 15 of the "Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation", and under Article 44 of the same Act may be fined not less than NT$60,000 and not more than NT$200 million.

Because aloe is irritating to the intestinal tract, it is often used in "weight-loss" foods, but if the public has the need to lose weight or relieve constipation, they should still mainly rely on more exercise, a balanced diet, intake of dietary fiber, and drinking more water, and should not covet the temporary effect of aloe.