Assessment of Undeclared Synthetic Drugs in Dietary Supplements in an Analytical View: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Dietary supplements have gained widespread attention globally as they are supposed to be healthier than synthetic pharmaceutical compounds with fewer side effects. Unlike common prescription drugs, dietary supplements are readily available to the general public. However, over the past few years, all kinds of legal and illegal drugs, have been detected in dietary supplements without labeling to defraud consumers, resulting in serious public health consequences. Due to the increasing number of drug frauds in dietary supplements, their consumption will undoubtedly risk consumers. Therefore; the importance of high-tech analytical methods in their assessment for controlling food quality seems undeniable. The current review examines the analytical techniques that focus on adulterating health products with undeclared pharmaceuticals, including registered and banned drugs. The present study referred to a survey from 2004 to 2021 based on articles in the Scopus database.

Keywords:

• Analytical methods
• dietary supplements
• pharmaceutical adulterants

Acknowledgment

The authors thank the Food and Drug Safety Research Center (Grant number 63186), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran, for all supports provided.