Honey-based sexual supplements may contain Cialis and Viagra ingredients, FDA warns

The Food and Drug Administration has issued warning letters to four companies selling honey-based supplements that claim to provide sexual enhancement.

The products, with names like “Royal Honey for Him” and “X Rated Honey for Men,” may contain hidden pharmaceuticals, the FDA said: the active ingredients in Cialis and Viagra.

In a release issued on July 12, the agency said that its internal lab testing found tadalafil and sildenafil in the honey products. Those ingredients, not listed on the labels, are found in Cialis and Viagra, which are used to treat erectile dysfunction and are only available by prescription.

These supplements might therefore pose health risks to consumers, the FDA said. The drugs can be dangerous for patients taking nitrates, which is common among those with diabetes, high cholesterol or heart disease, since the interaction could lead their blood pressure to drop to dangerously low levels. Other consumers might have allergies or sensitivities to the medications.

Adding a drug into a food product for interstate commerce violates federal law, the FDA said. The agency gave the companies 15 days to either state how they will address the problem or explain why they believe the products do not violate the law. If they do not respond, they risk seizure, injunction or a referral to the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations, an agency spokesperson said.

The companies that received FDA letters are Thirsty Run LLC (also known as US Royal Honey LLC), 1am USA Incorporated dba Pleasure Products USA, Shopaax.com and MKS Enterprise LLC.

Two of the four did not respond to requests for comment. Shopaax.com on Wednesday pointed NBC News to its the recall notice for the product the site sells, called “Kingdom Honey Royal Honey VIP.” Then on Tuesday, MKS Enterprise told NBC News that it will be recalling its product, “Dose Vital VIP Vital Honey.”

Other honey products mentioned in the FDA’s warnings include “Vital Honey for Men” and “Secret Miracle Royal Honey for Her. ” According to the FDA, the products are sold online and possibly in some retail stores.

The supplements generally claim to provide sexual enhancement and boost reproductive health.

The product description of “Royal Honey for Men,” for example, says it is made using “the most potent and natural source of sexual power and testosterone—Royal Honey—that is filled with rich floral nectar and a mix of select roots to maximize the effect.”

The ingredients listed for that product include ginseng root and tribulus terrestris, a leafy plant. 

“People should be very leery taking many of the products and supplements, because they’re unregulated, and most people don’t know what’s actually in them,” said Dr. Franklin Lowe, vice chairman of the Department of Urology at Montefiore Medical Center and a professor at Albert Einstein School of Medicine.

“What is on the label doesn’t necessarily correlate to what’s actually in the bottle or in the pill. And this is a perfect example of that,” he added.

Because dietary supplements are regulated as food, not drugs, the FDA does not vet them for safety, effectiveness or labeling, nor give them federal approval.

Other sexual enhancement supplements have similarly been found to be hiding active drug ingredients in the past.

The FDA warned consumers in April about nearly a dozen other honey-based sexual supplements that contained drug ingredients. In 2019, the FDA announced that sexual enhancement pills sold on websites including Amazon contained hidden and potentially dangerous ingredients like sildenafil.

An FDA spokesperson said the agency has been issuing alerts about tainted sexual enhancement supplements since at least 2007. Its first alert about honey-based products was in 2017.

“We encourage consumers to remain vigilant when shopping online or in stores to avoid purchasing products that put their health at risk, and instead seek effective, FDA-approved treatments,” Judy McMeekin, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs, said in the release.

Elliot Lewis

Elliot Lewis is an intern for NBC News. 

Royal Honey Review | Can Honey Improve Sex? – Illuminate Labs

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Royal Honey is a dietary supplement primarily made with honey, that’s used for sexual enhancement in both men and women. The brand Royal Honey America claims their supplement can not only improve libido, but also improve fertility and even increase penis size in men.

But does Royal Honey contain ingredients proven to have these effects in clinical studies, or are these just marketing claims? Does the product contain any unhealthy additive ingredients? Is the product for men or women better-formulated? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Royal Honey?

In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Royal Honey VIP, Royal Honey for Men, and Royal Honey for Women based on medical studies to give our take on whether or not the supplements are likely to be effective.

We’ll also share an FDA warning about a hidden drug ingredient found in Royal Honey, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of the supplement.

Royal Honey VIP Ingredient Analysis

Royal Honey VIP, also called Kingdom Royal Honey VIP, has five active ingredients shown above: honey, Tribulus terrestris, maca, tongkat ali and Panax ginseng.

Honey is unsurprisingly the first ingredient, and a medical review published in the Antioxidants journal found that honey can improve libido, erectile function and fertility in men. We cannot identify any evidence that honey improves sexual function in women.

Tribulus terrestris was shown in a 2020 meta-study to significantly improve sexual function in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. The study authors analyzed data from five different clinical trials on Tribulus supplementation in women to come to this conclusion.

Maca is one of the most well-studied natural aphrodisiacs. However, as we referenced in our VigorNow reviews article on another sexual function supplement, this ingredient is best taken gelatinized rather than raw, because it is an indigestible starch (like potato) and may cause gastrointestinal upset when taken raw.

Tongkat ali was found in a 2017 medical review to have “remarkable association…in the treatment of male sexual disorders” in seven of the 11 clinical trials analyzed.

Panax ginseng was found to improve sexual arousal and sexual desire in women in a meta-analysis published in the Phytomedicine journal.

Clearly there are a number of effective ingredients in this formulation for improving sex drive and sexual function in both men and women. We would otherwise recommend this supplement based on its formulation, but unfortunately it’s been found to be contaminated with a hidden drug ingredient, as we’ll detail in the next section.

FDA Finds Hidden Drug in Royal Honey

In April of 2022, the FDA published a Public Notification that Kingdom Honey Royal Honey VIP contained the drug ingredient sildenafil, which is the active ingredient in Viagra.

The FDA advised consumers to not purchase or use Kingdom Royal Honey VIP, because drug ingredients require FDA approval, cannot be included in dietary supplements, and may cause side effects.

A later FDA News Release, published in July of 2022, suggests that other honey-based supplements may be tainted with another drug ingredient called tadalafil, which is the active ingredient in Cialis.

This later News Release does not describe the products by name, so it’s impossible to determine if other Royal Honey products may be tainted.

Real, Unsponsored Royal Honey User Review

A YouTube creator named “Life with the Vargas Family” shared his experience taking Royal Honey, answered some user questions, and explained his thoughts on how long prior to sex to take the supplement:

Are Other Royal Honey Products Better-Formulated?

Royal Honey has two popular supplements branded by sex: Royal Honey for Him, and Royal Honey for Her.

The ingredients shown above are from Royal Honey for Him, also called Etumax Royal Honey for Him.

Three of the ingredients are the same as in the Royal Honey VIP product reviewed in the previous section (Eurycoma longifolia is the scientific name for tongkat ali).

Bee larva powder is the only unique ingredient in this formulation, and we cannot identify any medical evidence suggesting it’s effective for improving sexual function.

The ingredients for Royal Honey for Her, also called Etumax Royal Honey for Her, are shown above.

Royal jelly was shown in a 2016 clinical trial to improve sexual function in menopausal women when used topically on the vagina, but we can’t find any medical evidence that it’s effective when taken orally.

Bee pollen is only included at a concentration of 1%, and we can’t find any medical studies suggesting it’s effective for improving libido in women.

Kacip fatima is a flowering plant claimed by the manufacturer to be an “amazing herb for women,” however there is no citation for this claim. While it has been studied for childbirth and hot flashes, we can’t find any studies suggesting this herb is effective for improving sexual desire or function in women.

Overall we consider Royal Honey VIP to be the best-formulated of the Royal Honey supplements.

Does Royal Honey Cause Side Effects?

Royal Honey does not appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, so it’s impossible to say for certain whether the supplement causes side effects.

However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.

We consider this supplement more likely than average to cause side effects given that it was found to contain a hidden drug ingredient. Sildenafil can cause indigestion, flushing and headache according to medical research.

All of the ingredients listed on the label for Royal Honey are safe and non-toxic, so our concern over side effects is only in regard to the potential hidden drug ingredient(s) and not the herbal ingredients.

A YouTube video called “Royal Honey Horror Story” documents the side effects that one user experienced. We’ve timestamped the video below to start at the point where he begins discussing the side effects he experienced:

Can Ginseng Naturally Improve Sex Drive?

Panax ginseng, which is a plant native to Asia, has been studied in various clinical trials for its ability to improve sex drive in men and women, and to improve erections in men. We already reviewed this ingredient in the above sections, but we want to share further research on taking it in isolation for improving sexual function.

A 2013 medical review on ginseng and male reproductive function found that with daily use, the supplement increased sex drive.

A clinical trial published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine found that panax ginseng supplementation increased sex drive by 13% in menopausal women. 

A clinical trial published in The Journal of Urology found that after eight weeks of treatment, erectile function scores were “significantly higher” in the ginseng group than the group taking placebo pills.

Illuminate Labs sells a panax ginseng extract supplement which is third-party tested to ensure label accuracy, potency and purity, and which contains no questionable additive ingredients.

Interested consumers can check out Illuminate Labs Panax Ginseng Extract at this link to the product page on our website, where the supplement can be purchased for only $15 on a subscription basis.

Royal Honey VIP costs $6.67 per serving, while Illuminate Labs Panax Ginseng Extract costs $0.25 per serving.

Conclusion

Royal Honey may be effective for improving sex drive and sexual function, but we do not recommend the supplement overall because we do not believe it’s safe. It seems logical to avoid any brand of supplement that was found by the FDA to have a hidden drug ingredient.

This supplement does contain natural herbal ingredients shown in clinical studies to improve sexual function, and even honey may improve sex drive in men, so it’s unfortunate that the manufacturer felt the need to add an unauthorized drug ingredient.

We consider Royal Honey VIP to be better-formulated than Royal Honey for Him or Royal Honey for Her based on the active ingredients, but Royal Honey VIP is the product explicitly described by the FDA as containing the drug ingredient, so consumers may wish to avoid it.

Royal Honey may cause side effects because the hidden drug ingredient found in it can cause side effects.

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Etumax Royal Honey for him Etumax Royal Honey Vip 12X10 g

• 1033 Reviews
• 4 Questions

• Categories: >>>
• Supplier: ALVIN,SEAFOODS,LTD,[United,Kingdom]ALVIN

Description and reviews

Characteristics

ETUMAX VIP Royal honey for him
Image result for etumax vip

Efficiency:
* To strengthen the body as a whole
* For a respected sex life.
* No impotence, no infertility
* Refers to irregular small ejecta and short-sleeve intercourse.
* Instant energy source.
* Rich in protein, amino acids, vitamins, gastrointestinal and metabolic enzymes.
* Promotes nutrient absorption and metabolism.
* Supports the immune system.
* To improve lean body mass.
• Improves blood circulation.
* Promotes memory and brain function

Ingredients:
Pure Honey, Royal Jelly, Rainforest Herb Blend (Radix Eurycoma Longifolia, Ginseng Root)

Directions for Use:
Consume 1 sachet of ETUMAX VIP honey every 2 days as needed to feel its full effect in the morning once you start the day and feel energized

ETUMAX VIP honey can also be consumed one hour before any physical activity or meeting for an extra boost to your energy levels.

Caution:
After the tomato sauce machine is opened, consume immediately. Do not store the burner.

If you are allergic to bee pollen, honey, or any bee by-products please contact us in the following ways do not consume.

Restlessness and hyperactivity due to being more energetic. This can also be an advantage as people need more energy and enthusiasm.

Storage:
Store in a dry place at room temperature away from sunlight.

Packaging:
10g x 12 sachets/box

…

Fresh royal jelly is well known as one of nature’s most functional targeting products. It is a white milky substance that is secreted by the worker bee, highly nutritious and hormone-rich. Fresh royal jelly food; The truly vibrant bees and queens live exclusively on her, and she accounts for their incredible size, fertility, and longevity. Tianshan chooses Top Quality Fresh Royal Jelly as raw material. They are in the refrigerated warehouse before being subjected to melt inspection and chemical inspection. Only those qualified materials put into production in accordance with the analysis results. In processing, its working steps include filtering, mixing and quality checked in every detail, packaging according to different requirements of customers before they are stored in refrigerated containers that is under -18℃. All of the above procedures are subject to the state of labor protection and no impurities or preservatives are involved. Therefore, we are very proud that clain, Tianshan Fresh Royal Jelly is a 100% natural and environmentally friendly product material without any additives. We have Organic Fresh Royal Jelly available in order to cater for any special requests you would like to make.

According to specification Appearance: light yellow viscous liquid c.

10-HDA was tested using High Performance Liquid Chromatography: 1.4-2.0% min.

Crude protein: 11.5%-14.5%

. Moisture: 63.5%-67.5%

Package

A) 1 kg plastic bottles with sealed double protected plastic bag inside, 10 plastic bottles in foam insulated box.

B) 10kg in a plastic drum, one package: a plastic drum in a plastic bag, one drum is in a styrofoam insulated box.

Tianshan Fresh royal jelly can also be packaged according to your requirement. Tianshan Fresh Royal Jelly can also be packaged according to your requirement.