Hailed by body building experts as the best product of its kind on the market in 2012, a new kind of craze has erupted among health officials over the pre-workout supplement "Craze" amid reports that it contains dangerous levels of methamphetamine.
In a report published Monday in the journal "Drug Testing & Analysis" authored by a team of international scientists, it's been revealed that among the ingredients in the workout supplement is a methamphetamine analog, likened to a chemical "cousin" of meth.
According to a press release, the study was prompted after the product came under fire when a number of athletes using Craze were routinely failing their professional anti-doping drug tests.
"In recent years banned and untested drugs have been found in hundreds of dietary supplements," said co-author of the study Dr. Pieter Cohen, assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. "We began our study of Craze after several athletes failed urine drug tests because of a new methamphetamine analog."
The team of researchers that set out to study Craze and the supplement's questionable contents tested three different samples of the product from various online and in-store retailers. Two samples analyzed by NSF International and a third that was tested by the Netherland's National Institute for Public Health revealed the presence of the stimulating compound in question.
"We identified a potentially dangerous designer drug in three separate samples of this widely available dietery supplement," Cohen said.
Dubbed N,alpha-diethylphenylethylamine, or N,a-DEPEA, the methamphetamine analog has never before been studied in humans. The report indicates that this ingredient may have stimulant and addictive qualities, though it's complete overall effects have not yet been examined by health experts.
"It has never been studied in the human body," Cohen said. "yes, it might make you feel better or have you more pumped up in your workout, but the risks you might be putting your body under of heart attack and stroke are completely unknown."
Craze is manufactured by U.S.-based company Driven Sports, Inc., and is widely available for purchase through online retailers and in GNC stores across the country. With the increasing media hype surrounding this supplement, so too is an increasing craze among consumers.
As of Monday afternoon, most websites selling this product were completely sold out and Craze is being hawked on eBay and Amazon for up to $200 a pop. The product typically retails for between $50 - $60. Bloggers are urging others online to "stock up on Craze while you still can, FDA lawsuit's coming."
Researchers behind today's study also anticipate action on the part of the FDA, though a timeline for when this might occur is anybody's guess.
"If these findings are confirmed by regulatory authorities, the FDA must take action to warn consumers and to remove supplements containing N,a-DEPEA from sale," Cohen said. "Our fear is that the federal shutdown may delay this, resulting in potentially dangerous supplements remaining widely available."