Taking herbal food supplements is certainly not free of risk. (from Eurekalert, April 08, 2009) Since 2005, the poison emergency centers in the German cities of Freiburg and Göttingen have registered a total of 17 patients with health problems after taking Chinese slimming capsules. The pharmacologist Dieter Müller and his coauthors describe the documented cases of poisoning in the current edition of Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(13): 218-22).  See full PDF: Chinese Slimming Capsules Containing Sibutramine Sold Over the Internet .