Coffee from a company in North Texas is now at the center of a Food and Drug Administration recall, thanks to the inclusion of Viagra on its list of ingredients.
Bestherbs Coffee LLC, based in Grand Prairie, issued a voluntary recall of all its “New of Kopi Jantan Tradisional Herbs Coffee” after an FDA lab analysis found desmethyl carbodenafil in the product, The Washington Post reports.
Desmethyl carbodenafil is similar in structure to sildenafil, the active ingredient in the approved prescription drug Viagra, which in turn is used to treat erectile dysfunction.
According to the FDA, desmethyl carbodenafil may react with nitrates in other prescription medications, which may lead to dangerously low blood pressure. It poses a health threat to men who have diabetes, high levels of cholesterol and blood pressure, or heart disease.
The coffee comes in packs and includes milk, but an allergy warning is not seen anywhere on the labels. The product was sold nationwide on websites, each box containing 25 packs of 13-gram instant coffee powder.
According to the company owner, Albert Yee, he saw the coffee everywhere in Malaysia, and got the idea to bring it over to the USA. He then became a one-man import business.
The recall, issued on July 13, involves all of the company’s coffee that was sold between July 2014 and June 2016. Yee stated that he could not tell how much coffee is involved in the recall, but estimates a few hundred to a thousand packs will be returned, for destruction by the FDA.
In May, Stiff Bull Herbal Coffee faced a similar recall when the FDA found traces of the same drug in its Caverlo Natural Herbal Coffee.
Both companies advertised the inclusion of Tongkat Ali in their products, the root of a Malaysian tree that is turned into pills, or concentrated and mixed with beverages.
Yee said this incident has made his next life decision easier. “I’m 67. I’m going to retire.”
