WASHINGTON — A recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration warning to consumers has prompted military exchanges to remove the diet supplement Hydroxycut from store shelves, officials said May 5.
Military exchange officials contacted on May 5 confirmed that Hydroxycut products, used by dieters and body builders, have been withdrawn from stores.
In a May 1 news release, the FDA warned consumers “to immediately stop using Hydroxycut products.” Usage of such products, the release stated, is “associated with a number of serious liver injuries.”
Officials at the Dallas-based Army and Air Force Exchange Service directed managers to remove Hydroxycut from store shelves by noon May 2, said Judd Anstey, the AAFES public relations manager.
The Marine Corps Exchange Service also removed Hydroxycut products from its stores in response to the FDA warning, said Bryan Driver, a spokesman for Marine Corps Community Services based at Quantico, Va.
Navy Exchange stores removed Hydroxycut products from shelves on May 1, said Kristine Sturkie, a public affairs specialist for Navy Exchange Service Command at Virginia Beach, Va.
Patrons of Defense Commissary Agency grocery stores needn’t worry about Hydroxycut, said Ronald Kelly, the chief of DeCA’s public affairs directorate based at Fort Lee, Va.
“We do not carry the product in our inventory,” he said.
The maker of Hydroxycut, the FDA release stated, agreed to pull the diet supplement off the market. The FDA release lists a number of products subject to the consumer warning.
(Courtesy of the Armed Forces News Service)