Watch out for fake Alli diet pills for weight loss

Packaging of orlistat (Xenical) 120 mg capsules, as sold in Canada (note the bilingual labeling). Picture source: wikipedia

Yesterday, January 21, 2009, Dr. Oz's show was on the dangers of some popular diet pills that so many take. Some diet pills seem to be safe as long as your doctor has given you a thumbs up to taking them.

Now the Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning about fake Alli pills. These very popular diet pills are sold over the counter everywhere. Online you can buy "Alli" but beware that like a lot of products you buy online (from pocketbooks to shoes and watches) there are counterfeit versions of Alli. These fakes may be harmful.

Unlike many diet pills, Alli is approved by the FDA so many doctors do suggest that you try it out if you want to lose weight or have to lose weight.  What Alli does is stop your body from absorbing some of the fat in the food you eat. If you are thinking about taking Alli note that you might want to wear a pad because you may leak yellow and make sure you know where the bathroom is if you are out of the house.

You may have heard of Xenical. This is a prescription weight loss medication. Alli has half of the orlistat in it that Xenical has.

You will find the fake Alli in the 120-count refill.  (You can start with a starter pack that gives you booklets.) For now there is no evidence the fake Alli is in stores.

The bad Alli has something called Sibutramine. This is found in the prescription drug called Meridia and should only be taken with medical supervision.  

There are some differenced between the two that will clue you in:

• The fake Alli will not have the Lot code on the packaging.
• The expiration date has the month, day, and year whereas the real stuff only has the month and year.  
• The real Alli's bottle is not as tall as the fake Alli and the real Alli has a narrower cap than the fake stuff.
• You will find foil under the plastic cap in the fake Alli that has nothing printed on it. The real Alli says that is is sealed for your protection.
• The fake Alli is a larger capsule with white powder rather than small white pellets so if all the above haven't clued you in then open up a capsule!

If you think you have gotten counterfeit Alli, call the FDA's Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI)  at 800-551-3989 or go the OCI Web site.

Buying fake Alli can be dangerous. Selling a knock off Coach bag or Alli is "just" illegal and unethical.